The Light Shines Through Those Who Have Cracked
by The Tin Dogs Bollocks
Summary: Kids have to leave home at some point. While Reese is making his own way at Bullworth Academy by dealing with lovesick Preps and psychotic Jocks, Elliott has to adjust to a new boss - but an imminent school reunion is set to shake up both their lives.
1. The Next Generation

**A/N: Right, well _'Animal Shaped Hedges And White Picket Fences'_ is history. I'm really sorry to those of you who were enjoying it and wanted to see how it turned out, but I didn't want to finish something that I wasn't happy with. So I'm writing the story I originally intended to write, still with the reunion (just in a bit more detail... well, you'll see lol). Along with the Gary/Elliott stuff I'm going to focus more on Reese too. So the people who read '_Anguis In Herba_' will probably recognise this first chapter xD I'm only recycling this first one, so they rest will be newly written stuff I promise. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one more than the last, and I PROMISE I won't abandon and delete this one too xD I owe major thanks to everyone who has put up with my pickyness. I hope you enjoy it!!**

**Oh and I've been working on some more pictures of Elliott on my deviant art page (the link's on my profile). Note me so I can find you all if you have a page ^_^ **

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**Light Shines Through Those Who Have Cracked**

**Chapter One**

**The Next Generation**

'Reese Nixon-Smith...' Dr Crabblesnitch drummed his fingers on the smooth oak desk and peered down at the file for a moment. With a vague frown he gently closed it and sat back in his seat. He looked up at the boy sitting opposite him and regarded him thoughtfully with his yellowed, rheumy eyes. He was bald on the top of his head, with lines of neat grey hair down either side. He sat slightly slumped, the way elderly men did, but he certainly didn't sound like an old man. His voice was as loud and authoritative as ever. 'Well I'll be frank. I never expected you to join this school, especially after your family history.'

Reese shrugged his shoulders and rubbed the back of his shin with his toes. 'Might as well keep up the family tradition.'

'I hope your family tradition doesn't involve widespread destruction and intricate schemes against the student body and the faculty.'

Reese considered it for a moment. 'There's nothing written in stone.' He replied.

Dr Crabblesnitch smiled wanly. 'Quite. Well, I also have to admit that I was quite dubious about allowing you to join us. Even your mother was quite unsure of the decision, but she says _you_ were the one who was so keen to attend this school, is that correct?'

'Yeah.'

'Yeah?' Crabblesnitch arched a greyed eyebrow.

'Yes sir. It was my choice.'

'May I enquire as to why? You've always attended schools outside of Bullworth. Not that any of them will have you anymore.'

Reese thought for a moment, and then shrugged. 'I dunno.'

Crabblesnitch stared at him for a moment before looking back down at his file. He opened it again and leafed through a few pages. 'I would have liked you to say that you wanted to turn your life around. You haven't exactly got a squeaky clean record, have you Reese?'

'Nobody's perfect.'

'Well I expect my pupils to be.' Crabblesnitch replied sharply. 'And you, my boy, are nothing of the sort. It seems you are quite the little rebel. Deliberate retaliation against authority, organising fights in the school yard, mass anti-establishment graffiti… Well you're quite the little revolutionary aren't you?'

Reese just shrugged and made an indifferent sound.

'This all just makes me even more curious to why you would want to join Bullworth Academy. You know fine well the strict rules that the students have to abide by. One would imagine that it would be the last place an anarchist like you would want to attend. I can't help but look at your file and see a lot of your father looking back at me.'

Reese half smiled. 'Then maybe I do want to change my ways.'

Crabblesnitch sat back, his chair creaking beneath his shifting weight. 'I remember having him sitting in that exact same seat almost twenty years ago. He was nothing but a child then, and I honestly did not see the little wretch for what he was until it was too late. I assure you that I don't make the same mistake twice.'

'I bet you wore that tie before though.' Reese commented.

'I do not tolerate backchat, boy.' Crabblesnitch frowned. 'And I am going to make it my solemn duty to keep tabs on you all the time. If there is any trouble at all then I'm not going to hesitate to pin you as the prime suspect.'

Reese's defiant smirk faltered. 'Well that's not exactly fair, is it?'

'You should have thought about the way people would respond to you when you released crickets into the ventilation system of your last school.'

Reese chuckled. 'Yeah, that was pretty funny.'

'Well I'm not laughing, boy.' Crabblesnitch frowned. 'I am going to keep a very close eye on you. I want you to leave the Academy as a responsible and tolerable young man. I want you to keep your nose clean, boy. If you don't, then I won't hesitate to clean it for you.'

'Whatever.' Reese sighed.

'I'm sorry?'

'Whatever, _sir_.'

Crabblesnitch looked at him for a moment. 'Consider this your first warning.' He said. 'Next time we meet I hope you have smartened up your attitude. Now get out of my sight. Your uniform will be in your dorm. As you know today is still technically enrolment day so school doesn't officially start until tomorrow. You have the rest of the day to get used to the grounds and familiarise yourself with your fellow students. There is an introductory assembly tomorrow morning at nine sharp, so I expect to see your face. Then classes will begin in the afternoon. I expect you to have full attendance, do you understand?'

'Definitely.' Reese nodded. 'Wouldn't miss it for the world.'

Crabblesnitch narrowed one eye. 'Now run along, boy. I have a long line of students to get through today.'

Reese stood up and shouldered his bag. He saluted with his other hand and grinned lopsidedly. 'Thank you, sir.'

Crabblesnitch blinked. 'Right. Of course. You're welcome.'

Reese grinned again and headed out of the office. He offered the same wide grin to the grey haired receptionist who was talking self-importantly on the phone. She narrowed her eyes at him briefly and then turned around in her chair so she had her back to him.

'So?' his anxious mother latched onto him as soon as he stepped out of the office. 'How did it go? Does he hate you yet?' Elliott Nixon frowned deeply in distaste, her fair eyebrows almost meeting in the middle. 'I bet he does. Men like him had hold grudges for generations, and that guy has seen generations of generations.'

Reese raised an eyebrow at his mother. She stood with her arms folded and a grumpy look on her face. She was dressed simply in jeans and sneakers and a dark brown jacket. Already one of the Prefects had mistaken her as a senior, which had most certainly put a smile on her face. She was definitely the youngest parent present at the moment, probably by at least ten years. Reese had been surprised at the amount of old folks tailing the other students around the campus. Some of them looked older than Crabblesnitch, and that guy was _old_. They were probably knocking up his coffin right at that very moment.

'Ah he's a pushover,' Reese said dismissively, heading for the stairs. 'He won't be able to go very far without his cane and his piss bag anyway.'

Elliott frowned disapprovingly and followed him, slipping her arm through his. At fifteen, Reese was now just a little taller than her. He had grown broad and solid, a similar build to his father when he was that age. Although there were differences of course; Reese had Elliott's nose, and her blue eyes, and much to her pleasure he hadn't inherited his father's bad taste in hairstyle - although he could still do with a trim. And there was also the grisly scar on his jaw.

'Yeah well don't act smug,' Elliott warned him as they headed down the stairs, passing a peculiar fat kid that looked like a toad. 'No one likes a smug kid. And also remember that you're the new kid too. No one likes a smug new kid. I remember what these kids are like, it wasn't that long ago that I was here you know.'

'Yeah, fifteen years, I know. You keep reminding me.' Reese smirked. 'You just like to know that you're the youngest parent, don't you?'

Elliott flashed him a smile. 'That kid thought I was a senior. How awesome is that?'

Reese smirked and shook his head. 'I thought you said no one likes smug?'

'Ah, but I get to go home at the end of the day. You, my friend, have to stay here.'

Reese shrugged his shoulders and pulled open the main doors that led out onto the campus. Heading out they passed a tall, rodent like blonde man with a small, meek looking kid hurrying behind him. Elliott and Reese watched them over their shoulders until the doors closed.

'We can check Nerds off the list,' Elliott nodded, returning her attention to where she was going. 'So the school still has Nerds, Jocks and Greasers. Preps are missing. They've got to be around here somewhere…'

Reese nodded to the left side of the stairs. 'Check off Preps.' He told her.

Elliott looked to see two identical blonde girls walking up the stairs, every step in sync. They were dressed from head to toe in Aquaberry. The only way anyone knew they were actually two separate people and not a mirror image of each other was that one had long hair and the other had short hair. They looked down their noses at Elliott as they passed and then swanned through the main doors, shoving a small, mousy haired girl out of their way.

'Urgh,' Elliott shuddered visibly. 'I'm glad they weren't around when I was here. Geez it was bad enough with just Princess Pinky roaming around.' She turned back to Reese and squeezed his arm, her expression turning serious. 'Are you sure this is what you want? Absolutely positive? Because you just need to say the word and this place will be eating our dust in a matter of seconds.'

Reese shook her off, glancing around in embarrassment. 'I'm sure. Just don't start getting all blubbery on me. I don't want everyone thinking I'm some kind of mommy's boy.'

'Tell them I'm your sister.' Elliott winked. 'Or your older and very attractive girlfriend. I could put on an Italian accent. Guys dig Italian chicks, right?'

Reese screwed up his nose. 'Mom!' He headed down the steps, shaking his head. 'That's disgusting.'

Laughing, Elliott followed him. 'I'm joking. But seriously, there are dozens of other schools around. Cheaper schools, may I add.' She paused and shrugged. 'Fair enough you've been expelled from all the close ones…'

'The nearest school is practically in the next state. And anyway I'm sick of having to travel to get to school when there's one right down the road. I never really thought it was fair that you stopped me from going here just because you didn't like it.'

'It wasn't just because _I didn't like it_,' Elliott snorted irritably. 'I just don't like the idea of my money going into this dump. And it's full of crazy people.'

Reese shrugged and looked around. 'I'm sure to know one or two of the kids who go here, after all I've lived in this town all my life.'

Elliott sighed. 'I suppose.' She breathed, hanging on his arm as they made their way to the Boy's Dorm. She gazed around as they went. 'Man this place hasn't changed much. I can't believe there are only two new faculty members too. I thought half of them would be dead by now, or at least retired.' She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. 'I always thought that they could be robots. This only strengthens the theory…'

Reese glanced around. 'Mom, don't be nerdy.'

Elliott rolled her eyes and nudged him. 'Don't be such a moody-pants.'

'Please don't call me moody-pants.'

'How about cutie-pie?' Elliott grinned.

Reese shook his head irritably. 'You're a total loser.'

She puckered her lips and pinched his cheek. 'And you are totally _cute_.' She told him, just as two giant Jocks stomped by.

'Hey, missus,' one of them called to her as they passed. 'You wanna let me pinch those rosy cheeks of yours? You know which ones _I'm_ talkin' about!' They both high-fived and continued away, laughing loudly.

Reese scowled and started to turn around, but Elliott forced him to keep walking. 'Don't be stupid,' she told him. 'They'll crush you. And anyway, it's nice to receive compliments. Even if they are lame.' She paused in thought. 'Is it good to have a rosy ass?'

Reese scowled after the two Jocks anyway. 'Yeah, well… my dad would kick their asses anyway.'

Elliott laughed. 'You think he could kick their asses? I think you're mistaking Gary with someone who can punch their way out of a paper bag.' Before Reese had a chance to defend his dad they had reached the Boy's Dorm. 'Well,' Elliott sighed loudly. 'End of the line. No going back once you step in there, pal.'

Reese eyed the dormitory. It was small and covered in old egg stains. The _Y_ in _Boy's Dorm_ was practically hanging off and one of the windows was boarded up. There were already kids milling in and out, some of them in uniforms and some not.

'You sure you're doing this?' Elliott asked him again. 'Because I won't blame you if you want to run away screaming. In fact I'll probably join you.'

Reese shook his head and moved forward, eyes gleaming. 'No. I'm sure I'm doing this.'

Elliott nodded and clapped her hands. 'Well. I would come in but… well, I'm female and it's probably frowned upon.' She paused, eyeing him. 'So I guess I'll just go then.'

Reese nodded, still staring up at the dorm. 'Yeah. I'll call you.'

Elliott smacked her lips and swung her arms by her sides. 'Yup. I'll just head off home now. Waiting for that call. Alone.'

Reese glanced around to her, knowing she wanted a hug. He sighed and rolled his eyes at her protruding bottom lip and looked around to see if anyone was watching. Finally he moved towards her and gave her a brief hug. She embraced him tightly before he had a chance to move away.

'Don't say anything stupid to kids bigger than you,' she said frantically. 'And don't stay down by the gym after dark. And don't fall in with the Nerds. Or anyone for that matter. And if the chef is still called Edna for God's sake don't eat the apple pie or the casserole.'

Reese pried her off. 'I'll be fine,' he assured her. 'I'm not a kid.'

Elliott nodded. 'Of course. Sorry.' She looked at him worriedly. 'Make sure you call me though, yeah? Because if you don't I'll just come down. And that will be embarrassing. Mainly because I'll bring cookies. Heart shaped ones.'

Reese smiled. 'Bye, mom.'

She waved as he headed up the steps. 'And don't go behind the school bus, okay? If the teachers are still alive then that guy will _definitely_ be kicking around. He was like a cockroach.'

Reese nodded. 'Okay. See you.'

'Ciao amore mio!' Elliott called in her worst Italian accent, attracting curious glances from the few students dotted around. 'Call me!'

Reese rolled his eyes and waved over his shoulder without turning, and then pushed through the doors of the Boy's Dorm and into his first year at Bullworth Academy.


	2. These Empty Halls

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews FilipinaVii and thecookiequeen!! Sorry if this chapter is not very exciting... this is what I hate about new stories; the first couple of chapters are just to set everything up before the real fun can start. Anywhooo I shall refrain from moaning :P I'd love to know how many people are following this (I've discovered that I have a lot of lurkers recently) so if you are then please leave a quick review ^_^ (it'll probably dissuade me from abandoning it :P)  
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**Chapter Two**

**These Empty Halls**

There are some people who savour loneliness, others who cannot bear it, and a few who have loneliness thrust upon them. The idea of living alone had never occurred to Elliott, considering that she had never really had to think about it in the past. After her mother had gallivanted off to Tokyo she had lived with a bunch of girls, so even when she had wanted to be alone she couldn't be. Then when Crabblesnitch had decided it would be unsuitable for a pregnant girl to live on campus, she was moved to the hostel where she had ended up sharing a room with three other girls. Then Reese came along, securing company for the next one and a half decades. So it was pretty understandable that Elliott felt a little anxious at suddenly having a huge house all to herself. After all, this was the first time in twenty nine years when she had actually been _alone_.

She had bought her new home in the Vale with Reese in mind. It was far away from the Blue Skies kids who he was always fighting with, the bedrooms were big enough to house the ridiculous amount of crap teenage boys seems to hoard; there was enough garage space to store his bikes and plenty of room for him to work on them. But it was a mere two weeks after she had signed the last of the papers and organised the removal men when he had been expelled from school and he was signed up to Bullworth Academy.

But Elliott hadn't wanted him attending that school; not after what she went through there. It was petty, yeah, but she didn't care. Most people would have forgotten events that took place half a lifetime ago, but they were still pretty vivid to Elliott. She simply didn't want Reese to have the same time that she had at school. Of course he wouldn't get pregnant or anything so it wouldn't be _exactly_ like her time... Okay, it was completely petty. She simply didn't want to have ties with that school anymore. But Reese was actually the one who suggested it. He was also the one who insisted on living on campus, and considering the next school was a four hour drive away and had no on-site living quarters, Elliott didn't have much of a choice.

The house seemed too big from where she stood in the hallway. The ceilings were way too high and her furniture didn't seem to do a good job of filling the rooms up. With a sigh she dumped her car keys on the small table by the door (jumping at the sound they made because it was so damn quiet), and headed into the kitchen. As she went to make a coffee, she wondered if it was about time she got a cat or something.

'Oh yeah,' she muttered as she knocked on the kettle. 'Get a cat. Then get more cats and dye your hair purple. That's a good move.'

Well it was probably inevitable, she mused. She had always had that spinster air about her, and if she was going to grow old and crazy she might as well have a few dozen cats wandering around and crapping in the corners to keep her occupied. But then again if she still had this damn receptionist job she wouldn't have time to clean up the cat crap. She was lucky she had gotten a week off to sort the new house out. _That_ had taken a lot of arm bending. At one point she thought she was going to get fired for being so persuasive.

As she was pouring the milk into her mug, her phone decided to ring. Again, because the house was so quiet, the sudden noise made her jump, causing the milk to slosh all over the workbench. She scowled at it and reached into her pocket for her cell phone. She answered without checking who it was; something that she hardly ever did (a habit that started when she got a lot of calls from debt collectors).

'Hello?' she enquired sulkily as she snatched up a towel to clean up the mess.

'Hey.'

Elliott stopped and blinked. The mystery of who the caller was would have easily been solved by just checking the screen, but she didn't think of that. 'Um, hello.' She repeated, bemused.

There was a familiar chuckle. 'It's Gary.'

She rolled her eyes at herself. 'Oh right, sorry. I was distracted by all the stupid milk.'

'Uh, okay. I'm not going to ask what it is you're doing.'

'I'm making coffee. At least I'm trying too. It's pretty hard when you have to reach for miles across a stupidly huge counter just to reach the kettle.' She paused halfway through cleaning the spill and frowned. What the hell was Gary calling her for anyway? She had given him her number so they could keep in touch about Reese. He never _ever_ just called her for nothing, so either something was wrong or... well, she couldn't even think of another reason. 'Is everything okay?'

'Yeah, fine,' he replied. 'Just wondering how Reese got on.'

'At the Academy?' Elliott asked. 'Oh he was fine. Actually I think he's going to fit right in, even if it does pain me to say it.' She tossed the damp cloth into the washer and leaned against it. 'Apparently Crabblesnitch hates him already. You should see some of the teachers though, they've hardly changed. I thought at least one of them would have kicked it by now.'

Gary laughed. 'Well they were practically cockroaches.'

Elliott smiled. 'Yeah. Well he'll be fine I think.' She stopped, unsure of what else to say. She didn't really talk to Gary much unless Reese was there. There had been a point about two years ago when they had gone out once or twice, but the memories of that whole fiasco with Jimmy and Reese's accident had still been a bit raw, so she had put a stop to that before it had gone any further. Sometimes he would come around if something broke and she couldn't get anyone out to fix it, but they rarely saw each other socially; which was why this phone call seemed quite bizarre. Gary wasn't exactly a socialite.

'So you're a Vale girl now?' Gary asked, sounding like he was trying to keep the conversation alive. 'I hope you're not suddenly going to start developing an unhealthy interest in your cousins.'

Elliott smirked. 'Not likely. All my cousins are girls.'

Gary chuckled again. It sounded like he had run out of ammo for conversation. He had obviously called for some other reason than to check how Reese was. Elliott was curious to know but she didn't want to ask him straight. But then again she remembered that if you wanted to know something from Gary Smith, you _had_ to ask him straight or you would never know.

So she opened her mouth to ask, but he beat her to it.

'So have you unpacked and everything?' he asked. 'Because if you need any help with... y'know... unpacking and stuff... I'm off work today.'

Elliott raised an eyebrow. 'Well... there are a few boxes left but...' She paused, glancing around at the large, empty kitchen. Probably wouldn't hurt to have someone over for a little while. And she doubted he would stay for long anyway. 'Okay.' She shrugged. 'If you're sure.'

'It's no problem.' He replied. 'I just figured that you'd be a bit lost in that house on your own.'

She smiled slightly. 'Well I think if we tried hard enough we could probably lose a baby elephant in here.'

'It'll help pass the time,' Gary replied. 'I'll be around in about half an hour. What number is it again?'

'Twenty one,' Elliott answered after a moment's pause. 'The door should be open. Are you sure? Because there's literally only about five boxes here...'

'I said it's no problem. Anyway, there's kind of something I want to talk to you about anyway.'

Elliott felt a pang of curiousity. 'Really? What's it about?'

'Nothing important,' he replied dismissively. 'I'll be round soon, okay?'

'Um, okay. See you in half an hour then.'

Gary hung up. He didn't say goodbye on the phone – Elliott couldn't recall if he _ever_ had. She stood and looked at the phone in her hand, faint frown on her face, and wondered what it was he wanted to talk about. Behind her, the kettle clicked, signifying it was ready. The sound made her jump, and she cursed the ridiculous sized house again.

Maybe a few dozen cats wasn't such a bad idea after all.


	3. Bully See, Bully Do

**A/N:Whey thanks for the reviews again thecookiequeen, Anya Reine and InsanityForTheSane!! I'm recycling chapters (even though I said I wouldn't Dx) but I was reading back over them and thought it would be dumb to just leave them to fester on my hard drive and rewriting it all. Sooo... enjoy it anywayz :D

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**Chapter Three**

**Bully See, Bully Do**

Reese looked at his reflection in the long, dusty mirror on the inside of the closet. His dark hair was short at the back and long on the top, combed forward so it brushed the top of his nose. The scar that stretched from the corner of his mouth to the line of his jaw was as grisly looking as ever, a consequence of the head on collision between the two male role models in his life. His uniform was pretty boring; black slacks, a light blue shirt and a grey Bullworth sweater vest. It was better than having to wear a pink shirt though; he had already seen two kids in them on his way from Crabblesnitch's office. He decided they must have been two of life's unfortunates.

So, he mused, regarding his reflection. How does it feel to be a student at the worst school in the country?

It felt pretty good actually. Most people might find that strange, but Reese had been looking forward to the challenge of making his way in the world. Simply walking into a school and being immediately accepted was boring and uninteresting. Entering a school at rock bottom and finding your own way to get to the top; now that was interesting. And the kids here were just so bloodthirsty and insane… it really was going to be tough to scramble over them. But Reese thought he was up to the challenge. After all, if his dad had been able to do it…

'New Kid.' A husky voice barked from behind. 'Hey, New Kid, I'm talkin' to ya.'

Reese smirked. 'That was quick.' He mumbled.

'What? You say somethin', New Kid?'

Reese turned to see who was going to be the first kid to give him trouble, and was quite disappointed by what he saw. The kid must have been in the first year; he was short and scrawny, barely coming up to Reese's chest. He had messy brown hair that looked like it hadn't seen a brush in forever, and he wore a white Bullworth shirt that was far too big over tan shorts that showed off his bruised and grazed knees.

'Hey, shouldn't you be in the sandpit with all the other Kindergardeners?' Reese smirked, pushing his hands in his pockets.

The miniature bully tensed up, his hands curling into tiny, solid fists. 'You trying to provoke me, sweetheart? Cos if you're trying to be smart I'll rip you a new a-hole, you scarred turd.'

Reese chuckled. 'You think I'm scared of you? Look at you!' He bent down and rested his hands on his knees. He puckered his lips and spoke in a baby voice. 'Why you're just too cute.'

The little bully looked outraged. 'You want me to bruise your kidneys from the inside, pretty boy? Cos we can do the dance right here pal. I'll show you somethin' cute.'

Reese laughed harder. 'Man, I thought this place was supposed to be full of tough kids, not frigging dwarves with Short Man Syndrome. Say, if I give you a lollypop will you beat it?'

'Hey guys!' the tiny bully yelled, turning his head but not taking his eyes from Reese. 'You were right. This new kid is a wise guy.'

Reese straightened up, grin slowly faltering as three other guys poked their heads around the door. All of them were at least half a foot taller than himself.

'Who thinks we should teach Scarface here a lesson in manners?' the tiny bully called, scowling deeply at Reese. 'I call dibs on his nadsack.'

The tiny bully moved in on him, fists balled into solid little rocks. The three bigger bullies flanked him, grinning happily and eyes sparkling with bloodlust. Reese winced a little. He was no wuss; he could hold himself in a fight, but not in such close quarters with three giants and a poisoned dwarf. Maybe he should have listened to the advice and not said anything stupid, but then again how was he supposed to know that the little squirt had three bodyguards to back him up?

One of the bigger bullies with a shaved head smacked his fist into his hand. 'Oh man,' he chortled. 'I ain't had myself some newbie beatin' for months man! Y'know, summer really kills me sometimes. Beatin' on the same kids just gets repetitive.'

The tiny bully stomped on the dusty floorboards, trying to make Reese flinch. Reese just blinked at him in bemusement. 'So you think you're some tough guy, huh?' the little bully demanded. 'Well I like wannabe tough guys. I'm gonna braid your hair and use them as handles while I ride you around the campus like a bitch.'

Reese cocked an eyebrow. 'Wow,' he cooed. 'You've got some serious issues there, kid. Maybe you should get them seen too.'

The four of them began to advance on him and he readied himself. He knew he was going to get some kind of a beating, but he wasn't going to let them leave the room without them getting a little beating of their own. Anyway, technically there were only three. The little one could be settled with a kick. Just as long as there weren't any more…

'Whoooo!' a loud, hooting voice sang out. 'Beatdown, beatdown, time for a beatdown!'

Reese looked up as another kid in a ragged white shirt came bouncing through the door, hopping up and down like he was in some kind of one-man mosh pit. His curly brown hair bounced around as he spun and twisted, jumping closer to the group. 'Newbie beatdown, newbie beatdown!' he chanted excitedly. He finally came to a stop between the two bigger bullies and draped his arms around their shoulders, grinning goofily at them. His eyes were unfocused and trailing slightly, probably due to the way he had been jumping around in circles like a loon. 'Where's the new kid?' he cried happily. 'I got my steel toe-capped boots on today, just for this moment!'

Reese frowned in disbelief. 'Tommy?'

Tommy Jackson blinked at the sound of his name and looked at Reese. He stared at him for a moment, probably trying to get his dizzy brain to settle down and focus on the situation. The other bullies looked at him in confusion. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tommy sprang forward and seized Reese by his arms. Reese automatically tensed up, unsure of whether or not it was an attack.

'Reese!' Tommy yelled excitedly, pawing at him and hopping around him in circles. 'Dude! Where have you been for the last four years? Geez I thought you had died or something!'

Reese laughed and pushed the excitable boy back. 'I thought it was you that died!' he replied. 'I just went around your house one day and your mom said you were gone! Never explained anything! I figured your dad had you buried in the back yard or something.'

Tommy laughed. 'Yeah, well I guess that was the other alternative. They settled on sending me here.'

'I had no idea,' Reese shook his head in disbelief. 'I thought your parents were too cheap to send you to Bullworth Academy.'

'Me too,' Tommy shrugged. 'My dad sold the Range Rover to pay for the deposit.'

'They must really hate you.'

'Yeah. Not as much as my mom hates you though, you loser. Speaking of moms, where's yours? I could do with seeing that sweet thing again.'

Reese shoved him in the shoulder. 'So you're still a complete pervert.' He frowned slightly.

Tommy laughed and waved his arms. 'Hey man, I'm a pimp. I got girls dropping at my feet.'

'Yeah because you probably packed them full of Rohypnol.'

'Hey!' the tiny bully scowled in bewilderment. 'What the hell are you doing, Tommy? Stop consorting with the new kid.'

'Yeah,' one of the bigger bullies added. 'I've been practising my gut punches all summer for this moment!'

Tommy turned to face his group and draped his arm around Reese's shoulder. 'Ladies, this is a very good friend of mine,' he announced grandly. 'Allow me to introduce you to the one and the only… Reese Nixon-Smith.' He paused and narrowed an eye at Reese. 'You did pick up your dad's last name too, didn't you?'

Reese nodded as the four bullies fell silent and stared in surprise at him. They began to close in slightly and Reese half expected them to start sniffing him like curious dogs. The tiny bully's eyes suddenly lit up like Christmas lights. 'Dude…' he cooed. 'You mean… Reese Smith? Your dad is…'

Reese rolled his eyes. Would figure that he already had a reputation. 'Yeah, yeah. Gary Smith. That's my dad.'

'Dude!' the bully with the spiky blonde hair cried, making everyone jump. 'Oh my God, dude!'

'Blaine, man,' Tommy shook his head disapprovingly. 'Too much.'

He turned and grinned at Reese again. Tommy hadn't changed much since the last time they had seen each other. He was taller, probably a few inches off six feet, but he was still skinny. He still had the same dishevelled floppy, curly brown hair and slightly glazed brown eyes. Although during the last four years he had gained a few freckles and a scar on his top lip. His attitude was the same as ever though. Still the same old Tommy Jackson, just taller.

'I better introduce you to my boys,' he said proudly. 'The little yappy dog there is Jake King.'

'Kingsly.' The little bully corrected. 'Never Jakey. You call me Jakey and I'll rip you a new one, pretty-boy.'

Tommy shrugged apologetically. 'Kid's got some anger problems. He once put a kid in the hospital with an ultimate noogie. There was blood and everything. Seriously, it was awesome.'

Kingsly puffed up proudly. 'Yeah, it was.'

Tommy pointed his finger to the spiky blonde haired bully, who was now examining something on the window ledge. 'That's Blaine Gray. He's the swirly king. How many did you do last year, Blaine?'

Blaine glanced up, distracted. 'Huh? Oh… Uh… I lost count after two hundred and fifty three.'

Reese nodded appreciatively. 'Nice.'

Blaine smiled at the respect and returned his attention to the small bug on the window.

'This is Joshua Proctor,' Tommy continued, nodding to a tall, bulky kid with a shaved head and sharp green eyes. 'Don't let the size fool you. He's a pussycat.'

Joshua scowled. 'Hey man, the only pussy in here is you, you douche.' He looked to Reese and nodded. 'My dad sent me here cos I said I wanted to join the Navy. He says only wusses want to be in the Navy, so he sent me here were the girls are easy and the wusses get destroyed.'

Reese shrugged. 'Makes sense.'

Tommy pointed Reese to the last bully. 'And last, and certainly least, meet Sir Nigel McCormick.'

Nigel McCormick stood looking uninterested, dressed in a blue hoodie and cut off jeans. He had curly red hair and grey, distracted eyes. It took Reese a moment to realise that he was wearing sandals.

'What's with the Jesus creepers?' Reese asked, nodding to his feet.

Nigel shrugged. 'I don't appreciate the restrictions of shoes.' He replied. 'We weren't build for shoes, man. Everyone's letting themselves get all soft nowadays. What are they gonna do when the whole of civilisation breaks down, huh? They'll be screwed, that's what. They're not in touch with the world around them anymore.'

Reese looked at him for a moment. 'Right.' He finally managed.

Tommy finally released him and stepped aside. 'So you got your own room? Well done, kiddo. You don't know how lucky you are to get your own space in this dump. I've been sharing a room with Swampy for the past two years. It's fun torturing him but… well, the guy is pretty ripe.' He sighed and glanced around at the others who appeared to be waiting for some kind of orders. 'Why are all you girls gaping at me like I just rubbed my balls on your face? Go on, piss off. Reese doesn't want you cluttering up his room, man.'

The bullies glanced around at each other and then headed out. Blaine lingered for a moment, frowning.

'No newbie beating?' he asked.

'No, shitface,' Tommy spat. 'Get the hell out of here, will you? You're making my frigging teeth ache with your stupid face.'

Blaine frowned, hurt, and then followed the others out with his head down. Reese watched them all go, amused, and then turned to Tommy.

'You got your own clique? Wow man, well done.'

Tommy nodded. 'Took a full year, a whole bunch of busted knuckles and a lot of noogies, but I got there. You're lucky I'm here man. The new kid always gets a major beating. Last year we hung Earl Hardwicke from a tree by his ankles. He stayed there for thirteen hours until some little snitch told the Prefects.'

'Guess I am lucky then.' Reese agreed.

'That you are, my friend.' Tommy draped his arm around his shoulders again and led him to the door. 'Let me show you around. Everyone's got a place here. I'm sure you'll find yours eventually, but you got to understand the social order around here first. Seriously, man, you're gonna love it here. It's so your kind of place.'


	4. Breaking News

**A/N: Loooong chapter lol xD You probably know what I'm like for filler stuff so getting all this in one chapter just helps things get moving quicker. You don't mind long chapters, do you? If you prefer them shorter I'll cut them down again. Whatever's easiest for my loverly readers ^_^**

**Edit: Vote on the poll on my page pleasus and thankyous ^_^**

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**Chapter Four**

**Breaking News**

'God _damn it_!' Elliott roared, snatching her finger back from the devouring kitchen drawer that contained the cutlery. She had only used the drawer about six times since she moved in but every time it had snatched the end of her finger without fail. It had some kind of spring back action on it, so even the slightest nudge sent it whizzing back into place like a guillotine for fingers.

Anger surged through Elliott for a moment while she sucked on her throbbing finger – that kind of raw, unabridged anger that you get when you stub your toe or catch your sleeve on a door handle. She almost pulled the drawer out and stamped on it, but thankfully the blinding anger dissipated before she went all Hulk on the kitchen drawer.

'Frigging carnivorous house...' she muttered, and then tentatively opened the drawer again to check where the springs were. She ducked her head down so it was practically in with the spoons and narrowed her eyes at the corners. Maybe if she just clipped the springs it would help keep her fingers in tact...

'I really doubt you'll fit in there.'

Elliott jumped at the voice, bumping her head off the side of the counter. 'Ow!' she cried, standing up and naively leaving her fingers in the drawer, which then rushed closed. '_OW_!' she bellowed as her fingers were crushed between then wood. '_Fucking fudge cakes_!'

From the doorway behind her, Gary laughed. 'Fudge cakes?' he sniggered. She turned and glared at him angrily, that same primal fury rising in her once again.

'It's not funny,' she snapped. 'And what the hell are you doing creeping up on people anyway? Whatever happened to _knocking_?'

Gary pointed back over his shoulder with his thumb but was still smirking at her. 'The door was open,' he told her. 'And anyway, you were the one who said it would be open so I assumed that meant just to come on in. How was I supposed to know you would have your head in the cutlery drawer?'

Elliott gritted her teeth against the stream of profanities that were threatening to pour out of her mouth and breathed in through her nose. Finally she calmed herself down, but she still felt highly irritated by the throbbing in her fingers. 'It's this stupid drawer.' She frowned, turning to shoot it an angry glare. 'Trust me to end up with a frigging carnivorous kitchen.'

Gary crossed the floor and joined her side. 'This drawer?' he asked, taking hold of the handle and pulling it out.

Elliott instinctively backed away, holding her wounded fingers to her chest. 'It's evil.' She confirmed.

Gary went to push it back in but it snapped shut on its own. He blinked, surprised. 'You're lucky you still have them attached.'

Elliott watched as he opened it again and peered inside, similar to what she had been doing when he first arrived. He looked in the corners, then picked up a knife and wedged it in the side so it wouldn't snap shut again. He glanced up at her, ignoring her bemused expression.

'Have you got any pliers or anything?'

She hesitated, then nodded to the drawer. 'There should be some in there.'

Gary looked down and spotted a pair by a bottle opener. 'You keep your pliers in the cutlery drawer?' he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

'Well it's made out of metal.' She shrugged.

Gary just chuckled and went to work on something in the back of the drawer. Elliott just watched, a little disorientated by the way he had just swanned in and gotten to work. But he was like that; he always had been. He wouldn't hang around and exchange pleasantries, or sit and drink coffee – he would rather get straight to the point. In a way Elliott preferred that, mainly because she never knew where to start when making small talk with Gary.

'So Reese was okay?' he asked as he fiddled around with something in the back of the drawer.

'Yeah he was fine,' Elliott replied, leaning against the counter and examining her wounded fingers. 'He seemed pretty keen to get rid of me. Tell you what though, I'm sure the Jocks are getting bigger. Two passed us and they were frigging monsters. Apart from that it's exactly the same as when we were there. It was so weird being back.'

Gary didn't reply. He frowned a little as he felt around, then there was a _pinging_ sound and he pulled his arm out. 'There.' He said, pushing the drawer in and out. 'Shouldn't try and eat you now.'

Elliott hesitated, then tested it. 'Thanks.' She smiled, and then half laughed. 'I was going to do that before you got here.'

'You would have only cut your head off or something,' he replied, handing her the pliers. He glanced around, pushing his hands in his pockets. 'So what else needs doing?'

Elliott eyed him for a moment, wishing that he would just try and make a _little_ conversation. When Reese was around he usually just mucked around with him; play fighting and rough housing. Sometimes he would sit and chat with him, but when it was just Elliott he didn't really say much. It wasn't awkward as such, just... well she wasn't sure what it was. But there was definitely something underlying.

'There's a few boxes in the back porch that need to go to the garage,' she shrugged. 'They're full of Reese's bike tools and stuff and I nearly popped a frigging gasket trying to move them yesterday.'

Gary nodded, already moving away. Elliott hesitated, then moved after him.

'You said you wanted to talk about something,' she reminded, trotting behind him down the empty hall.

'Huh?' Gary frowned vaguely. 'Oh yeah, right.' He stopped and paused. 'Where are the boxes?'

Elliott took the lead and led him to the porch. Gary didn't hesitate to pick the first one up, grunting at the weight. She quickly opened the back door and moved out of the way as he passed her into the garden.

'Nice garden,' he commented, heading for the garage.

Elliott frowned. Okay, so Gary didn't make conversation often, but this was weird even for him. It was weird for him just to turn up and start working like some kind of robot. He set the box down by the garage door and turned back, only to find Elliott blocking his path.

'You're being creepy.' She told him, one eye narrowed.

He laughed. 'Creepy? How am I being creepy?'

'You're acting very... Lurch-like.'

'Lurch-like?'

'You know, Lurch. From the _Adam's Family_. You've just wandered in and started doing things and not really talking and...' She narrowed her other eye. 'It's creepy.'

He looked like he was going to try and defend himself, but wisely he decided against it. Instead he rubbed the top of his head and glanced away awkwardly. 'Well... I guess there is something I need to talk to you about. And you know I said it wasn't really important? Well... it kind of is.'

Elliott tilted her head curiously. 'Is there something wrong?'

'No,' he replied. 'It's just... well...' He paused, then sighed. 'I might be moving.'

Elliott blinked. 'Oh?'

'Out of Bullworth.' He added.

Elliott frowned. 'Oh.'

'I put in for a docking job about a year ago, before I got the one down at Blue Skies, and I just got a letter this morning saying there's an opening for me. It's just, well, it's better pay and...' He trailed off. 'I just thought with Reese being at the Academy he wouldn't really mind if I was away for a while. I'd come back and see him every other weekend and he could come stay with me during the holidays...'

Elliott was looking down at her hands, biting the inside of her mouth thoughtfully. She realised then that he was checking her reaction and glanced up again, forcing a smile. 'Well that sounds... great.'

He looked at her for a moment, eyebrows lowering slightly. 'It wouldn't be permanent.' He added.

Elliott shrugged and upped the fake smile. 'You're right, Reese probably wouldn't notice anyway, and as long as he still gets to visit you and stuff I can't see him minding. Well um... congratulations, I guess.'

Gary rubbed the back of his neck. 'Thanks.' He paused. 'Is it okay with you?'

She laughed a little louder than she had intended. 'Okay with me? Of course it is. Why would I have a say in it anyway?'

'I guess you wouldn't.' He nodded. He stood for a moment, looking a little awkward.

'So, um... when are you due to leave?'

'Friday. I'll talk to Reese before then.'

'Yeah, of course.'

The pair of them stood silently, looking down at the floor ground between them. Elliott was surprised at how dismayed she felt. It wasn't like she saw him very often, and with Reese at school she probably wouldn't have seen him for weeks anyway. She couldn't explain why she felt so bummed out by the news that he was leaving. She guessed it was because she had thought he would always be around.

'Well I'll finish with these boxes.' Gary said, moving past her.

'Uh, you don't have to...' she started, but he had already picked up another box. She watched him for a moment, lost for words.

* * *

'Oh God, I refuse to believe you are _that_ stupid.'

Elliott frowned at the voice on the phone. 'Excuse me?'

The voice belonged to Courtney Meadows, Elliott's only real friend from the place where she worked. Courtney was a thirty-eight year old, heavy smoking, heavy drinking divorcee. She was also the only person in the whole office who stopped to have a conversation with Elliott that didn't involve files or phone calls. She had full, curly brown hair made her slightly weathered face seem longer than it was, but she was still pretty. However she did look like she had passed her prime; her brown eyes were now more like muddy puddles than deep, oaky pools, and if you got close enough you could see the faint smoking wrinkles on her top lip and the deepening crow's feet in the corners of her eyes. Another thing about Courtney was that she was probably the most pessimistic, sarcastic woman that Elliott had ever met in her whole life.

'I sometimes wonder if you've even got a working cognitive system,' Courtney continued, voice slightly venomous. 'Is he still there?'

Elliott peered out of the kitchen window. Sure enough she could still see Gary in the garage, shifting around the heavy boxes. 'He's still here.' She confirmed.

'And it really hasn't occurred to you _why_ he's still there?' Courtney asked, sounding bored.

Elliott frowned slightly, wondering why the hell she had called Courtney in the first place. Gary's news had taken her off guard she guessed, and she just needed to tell someone about it. She should have known better than to call Courtney though, because Courtney saw hidden meanings in absolutely everything. And she was never really polite about it.

'There's no need to be a bitch about it, Courtney. What's the matter with you anyway?'

Courtney sighed. 'It's been a while since I had a cigarette.' She replied.

'What, ten minutes?'

'Something like that. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Think about it, Ellie-dear. He turns up when he knows Reese is not there to tell you something that really would only fully concern Reese. He could have just told you on the phone, couldn't he?'

Elliott shrugged and continued to watch Gary in the garage. 'I suppose so. But he said he wanted to help unpack...'

'I bet he's just moving stuff around that doesn't really need to be moved around.' Courtney replied. By Elliott's silence she knew she was right. 'Look, my naive little brain-dead dumpling,' she continued. 'He came around to tell you because he wants you to tell him not to go. Don't you see?'

Elliott's frown deepened and she moved away from the window. 'What? Why would he want me to tell him that? If he didn't want to go he wouldn't take the job.'

Courtney sighed again. 'You're going to give me an aneurysm, Elliott.'

'But that doesn't make any sense.'

'He wants to make sure that there's nothing worth hanging around for. Understand?'

'Not really.'

'Jesus Christ, Elliott.' Courtney fumed. 'I'd be better off explaining this to a bloody dead possum. _He still likes you_. Is _that_ clear enough? He wants to check that there's any chance of you two getting together before he leaves. I bet if you went out there right now and made a big girly scene about wanting him to stay he would sweep you into his arms and you could go skipping off into the sunset together. Then this summer there would be you, Gary and Reese in a flashy SUV driving to Florida for your vacation. Or you would be baking pies in the kitchen while Gary and Reese play catch in your luxurious back garden. Reese will have his baseball glove signed by Brian Lara...'

Elliott frowned, brain struggling to understand Courtney's sudden monologue. 'Brian Lara plays cricket.'

'Do I strike you as someone who knows anything about baseball?' Courtney snapped suddenly. 'Well am I right or what?'

'What? No! Of course you're not right. That's ridiculous. He probably just knows that I'll be feeling a bit down because Reese has gone off to school and this is his way of being nice. And maybe he would rather tell me he was leaving to my face rather than on the phone.'

'Oh whatever, Ellie.' Courtney replied impatiently. 'You go back to your weird little ignorant world. But I'm telling you now that that's the one reason he's there. At least kiss him or something before he goes.'

Elliott frowned. 'You're talking crap, Courtney.'

'Come on,' Courtney answered, sounding amused. 'Maybe some goodbye sex. You've got the house to yourself, haven't you? Where did you say he was – the garage? Plenty of things to hold on to in there.'

Elliott felt herself blushing. 'I'm hanging up Courtney.'

Courtney clicked her tongue. 'Young people today,' she muttered. 'So highly strung.'

'I'll see you at work.' Elliott frowned, then hung up. She stood for a moment, tossing the phone from side to side thoughtfully.

'What a load of crap...' she muttered, going back to the window. She peered out at Gary, who had stopped and was standing back and apparently having a break. Elliott watched him for a moment, before heading back outside to join him. On the way she scooped up a pile of mail that had been forwarded from her old address and flipped through it as she walked.

Courtney always made mountains out of molehills. As if _that_ was the real reason Gary was here. And even if it was, what made Courtney so sure that Elliott would want him to stay anyway? Gary has his own mind; if he didn't want to do something he didn't need Elliott to tell him either way. In fact, if she went and told him to say, he would probably just laugh at her.

'You've got far too much junk,' Gary told her as she stepped out of the door. 'If I'd known there was this much stuff I wouldn't have come around.'

Elliott began to answer but a familiar symbol on the corner of one white envelope caught her eye. She stopped and blinked at it. 'Whoa, déjà vu.'

Gary glanced to her, wiping sweat away from his forehead. 'What is it?'

She blinked again, making sure it was what she thought it was, and then showed the envelope to him. Gary moved towards her, taking the envelope to have a closer look.

'They're probably collecting all the owed money for late library books.' Gary shrugged, but his expression showed that it made him uncomfortable. Any mention of Bullworth Academy and Gary got a little fidgety. Safe to say he hadn't been best pleased when he found out that Reese would be attending that school.

Elliott took the envelope back and ran her thumb over the embossed crest for their old school. 'Well if that's the case I don't know why they're sending me a letter. I didn't take a book out in the whole time I was there.'

Gary smirked. 'Explains a lot.'

She ignored him and ripped open the letter. 'It's probably just about Reese's place. Although I don't see why they would be sending me another letter about it... unless he's been expelled already...' She unfolded the letter and read it, while Gary stood by and waitied. 'Oh my God…' she muttered, blue eyes running over the words.

'What is it?' Gary asked, returning from the hall. 'Please tell me someone died.'

Elliott looked back up to him, expression bemused. She held the letter out to him. 'It's a frigging invitation to a reunion.'

Gary snatched it from her and read it over. Then he laughed loudly. 'A _reunion_? Are they insane? Who in the right mind would want to go back there for a _reunion_?'

Elliott blinked, contemplating it. She had always wondered what her old classmates had done since graduating. A few of them she still saw of course, like Jimmy, Johnny and Peanut, but nearly everyone else had moved on. It would be interesting to see what life choices people had made…

'Oh no,' Gary said, shaking his head. 'You can't seriously…'

Elliott shrugged defensively and took the letter back. 'What? So I might want to go. Is that such a big deal? It might be interesting.'

Gary just laughed. 'You're insane.' He told her, turning to go back to the garage. 'Well have fun reliving the worst days of your life.'

Elliott frowned and followed him. 'You're not going to come?'

He looked at her incredulously for a moment. 'Seriously?'

'Well why not? Fair enough you weren't exactly a model student, but it was a long time ago…'

'I don't think so Elliott.' Gary shook his head.

She reached out and pushed his arm. 'Oh come on,' she chuckled. 'You're not scared, are you? It'll be funny!'

Gary just continued to shake his head. 'Well if you want to go then that's fine by me, knock yourself out. But you'd have to kill me to get me back into that school.'

Elliott shrugged and fiddled with the letter. 'Well maybe it would be good to spend a bit of time together before you, y'know, left.'

He stopped and looked at her for a moment, one eye narrowing suspiciously. She made a point of not looking at him, because she knew she would blush.

'But if you don't want to then I guess that's okay. I can't imagine many people would turn up for it anyway...'

She glanced up in surprise as Gary plucked the letter from her fingers and scanned over it. 'It's this Saturday,' he said, sounding more like he was talking to himself. He frowned thoughtfully for a moment, then handed it back. 'I guess I could go down on Monday instead of Friday.'

Elliott felt a little bemused by the way things were going. 'So you'll come?'

Gary shrugged and returned to the boxes. 'Why not? Like you said, it would be good to spend a little time together before I left.'

He went back to work without looking at her, which was a good thing really because she was just gawping at him, suddenly realising that Courtney had probably been right. The weirdest part about it was that Elliott was actually a little glad.


	5. Love Thy Neighbours

**A/N: Oookies I'll stick with the long chapters (this one is basically 2 chapters put together lol) :D Again the Reese stuff is recycled from _Anguis In Herba_, but there's I'll only be using one more from that. Thanks for the reviews everyone :D  
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**Vote on the poll on my page pleasus and thankyous ^_^**

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**Chapter Five**

**Love Thy Neighbours**

Most of the parents had now left the campus, although there was the odd mother coddling and mortifying their sons on the small yard in front of the Boy's Dorm. Tommy's pals were now outside and lingering at the bottom of the steps, watching the other kids like hungry wolves and simply biding their time for a weak one to pick off first. Tommy led Reese past, not even acknowledging them, and moved to the stone archway.

'Okay,' Tommy said, clapping his hands and turning to Reese. 'We've got four major factions. The Jocks, the Greasers, the Nerds and the Preppies. Simple, and I know you'll have already figured that out for yourself. All pretty self-explanatory. Fall in with the Nerds and you're a Nerd yourself. You'll open yourself up to a whole world of pain and I won't be able to stop the boys from beating on you. Honestly, I'll probably have to join them. I've got a reputation to upkeep.'

'Like I'll start hanging out with Nerds.' Reese chuckled, glancing around and flexing his knuckles.

'Yeah, well just so you're clear,' Tommy told him, also looking around. 'Oh, and speaking of the Nerds…' He cupped his mouth and yelled back towards the Boy's Dorm. 'Hey, Carlton! You got your plastic sheet yet? Peabody is handing them out in the cafeteria!'

Reese looked around to see a weedy boy in high-waisted tan slacks and a tucked in shirt stop like a startled deer. He looked just a little shorter than Tommy but he walked with a stoop. His red hair was parted on the side and slicked flat with too much gel. His top lip protruded a little, a clear giveaway of the braces that were fixed against his teeth. Reese smirked when he realised that the scrawny nerd had been successfully sneaking past the other bullies before Tommy had called out to him. The other bullies looked around sharply to him and then headed over. Tommy chuckled as they closed in on the nerd and turned back to Reese.

'That's Carlton Nedry,' he explained. 'Best test scores in this state. Apart from Taylor Ruxton of course… but I'll tell you about her later.' He turned around again only to have someone slam hard into his shoulder. He scowled automatically, fists balling. 'Hey man, watch where you're…' He trailed off as the strong Greaser turned angrily on him. 'Oh, hey Dante,' Tommy half laughed. 'Didn't realise it was you.'

The Greaser glared at him for a moment, his light hazel eyes scrutinising every part of Tommy's face. His brown hair was slicked back perfectly and his leather jacket had deep creases worn into the elbows. It was hard to tell what colour his jeans had been originally given they were so stained with oil. Another Greaser stepped up beside him, just as intimidating as the first. He had dark, almost black eyes embedded in a smooth, flawless porcelain baby face.

'You watch yourself, Jackson,' the first Greaser growled. 'Remember your place. You and your boyfriend.'

Tommy nodded. 'Sure, Dante. Sorry, man.'

The two Greasers turned and stomped away. Reese frowned after them before turning back to Tommy questioningly.

'That's Dante Romano,' Tommy said quietly, watching them go. 'He's a complete psycho. Seriously. If you've got an ounce of sense you'll stay as far away as him as you possibly can.'

'Wait,' Reese frowned. 'Romano? They're related to Peanut?'

'How the hell would I know?' Tommy replied with a frown. 'Do I look like his frigging social worker?'

Reese frowned vaguely and looked after the Greasers. They had stopped to watch Carlton try to struggle out of his shirt that had been pulled over his head by Kingsly. The other Greaser laughed and kicked Carlton up the backside, causing him to fall ungracefully to the floor.

'Who's the other Greaseball?' Reese asked.

'Joey Rizzo.' Tommy told him. 'He's second in command. Just as crazy as Dante. Seriously, dude, don't even look at them for too long. They'll rip your insides out.' He nudged Reese again and pointed up the walkway. 'And there's the Jocks. Two of them, anyway.'

Reese looked to see the same two Jocks that had called out at his mother earlier and automatically scowled. Both of them were over six feet tall with huge muscular shoulders that could quite easily be down to weight gain powder and steroids. One of them had blonde sweeping hair and a squared jaw that led onto a thick, tree-truck neck. He wore a dark blue football jersey and knee length black shorts with white high-tops. He tossed a basketball from hand to hand while he rambled on about something with his buddy. The other one was practically the exact same size, only with short dark hair and tanned skin. He wore a letterman's jacket and jeans that looked at least one size too small.

'The big blonde one is Chuck Wiles.' Tommy said as they walked by. 'He's like, the best at everything. He's got more trophies and shit for this school that anyone in the whole history of this dump. Actually his sister was the Head Cheerleader when your mom and dad were here.'

'And the other one?'

'Todd Peterson. Brain of a shrimp. Don't try and bamboozle him though because he lashes out when he's confused.' Tommy sighed, bored. 'I'm sick of looking at all these uggos. Let's go check out the ladies.'

Reese shot one more thoughtful glance to the two gossiping Jocks and then followed Tommy. Tommy walked quickly, whether intentional or just habit was unknown, and as he went he seemed to be looking everywhere at once. Reese figured he was looking out for anyone to pick on. He had always known Tommy could be pretty sadistic at times but he had never imagined him running the bullies. Seemed like he had made quite a name for himself. Well, perhaps not so much with the Greasers.

'Ah,' Tommy breathed as they came to the archway that led onto the yard in front of the Girl's Dorm. 'My favourite place on campus. Look at them all… beautiful little peacocks just strutting around, flashing their feathers…'

Reese frowned slightly. 'I thought the flashy peacocks were males. Female peacocks are brown.'

Tommy glanced at him for a moment. 'You know what I mean,' she snapped irritably, and then returned his attention to the building. The girls were queuing up, receiving dorm numbers from the female staff in the yard. 'We're lucky here at Bullworth Academy,' Tommy said, smiling happily. 'Because most of our girls are hot. And easy. Seriously man, they'll do anything.'

Reese grimaced a little. 'Right.'

Tommy nudged him and pointed at the two blonde twins that had been going into the school earlier. 'Those are the Harrington twins. The one with the short hair is Brooke Harrington and the one with the long hair is Darcy Harrington. Whatever you do don't get them mixed up. They go insane. They're complete bitches, both of them, but they are so hot.' He grinned at Reese. 'I mean twins. That's so hot.'

'Are they related to Derby Harrington?' Reese asked thoughtfully.

'The guy in congress? Yeah.' Tommy nodded. 'They're his younger sisters. There are millions of them. I'm pretty sure there's a Harrington in every year. Enough about them though. I look at them too long and I have to go sit down on my own for a while.' His eyes scanned the yard and finally found someone else. 'Oh, there she is. My beauty. Lara Romano.'

'Wait, wasn't that Greaser called Romano?'

Tommy winked and pointed a finger at Reese. 'Quick on that one, my friend. Being quick will help you around here. Yeah, Lara is Dante's younger sister, meaning that if you so much as say hi to her in a suggestive way then Dante will smash your legs and make sure you never ever have children. It's such a waste. I mean look at her… she's stunning…'

Reese spotted her by the table examining her fingernails. She was very good-looking with dark wavy hair and light brown intelligent eyes. She wore a lilac neck scarf, a fitted white Bullworth shirt and a short pleated skirt. Reese could see already that she was trouble and made a mental note to stay away from her.

'I'll get her one day, my friend,' Tommy said. 'It's my mission in life.' He looked at her longingly for a moment longer and then spotted someone else. 'Oh, there's Mallory Steiner.'

Mallory Steiner had only been spotted by him because she had dropped her books by the Harrington Sisters and was currently being set upon for being 'a great big lesbo' and 'only dropping her books so she could look up Brooke's skirt'. Mallory was short, with cropped dark hair and purple-framed glasses. She gathered up her books quickly and quietly, although if looks could kill then the whole of the northern hemisphere would have been reduced to ashes.

'Nerd,' Tommy confirmed. 'But I guess if the pickings were slim I still would.'

Reese looked to him with a raised eyebrow. 'You would anything.'

Tommy mused over that for a moment. 'Maybe.' He nodded ahead again. 'And last but not least, our cheery twosome Brittany Henderson and Ashley Powell. Brittany is the chatty one with the black hair.'

The two girls were in cheerleading uniforms and gossiping on the steps of the dorm. Brittany had long, straight black hair that lay around her shoulders and a heart-shaped, pretty but slightly pouty face. Her lips went a million miles a second as she chattered away, eyeing the Harrington Sisters with a grimace on her face. The other one, Ashley Powell, was shorter and had wavy red hair that shone in the bright sunlight. She nodded and made agreeable sounds as the other girl chatted away, also sending daggers at the two Preps.

'I dated Ashley for a while,' Tommy reported proudly. 'Well… we were only in fifth grade and she did go off to play with some other kid after she had held hands with me but… I can tell she still digs me.'

'I bet.' Reese said, amused. 'Is that everyone then?'

'The important ones anyway.' Tommy shrugged, turning to head away. 'Although I haven't seen…'

'Well, well, well.' A strong, smooth voice interrupted. 'Look what we have here. Peeping toms?'

Tommy rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. 'Hunt Oakley.'

Reese cocked his head to examine the pompous Prep blocking their path. He stood with perfect posture, his smooth chin raised a little in contempt of the two boys before him. His chestnut hair was in a typical Preppy heartthrob style, just starting to come down into one of his arrogant and scrutinizing grey eyes.

'Tommy,' Hunt replied with a hint of distaste in his faux British accent. 'Well I thought you would have been expelled by now given your vile behaviour last year. Crabblesnitch must be on another of his rehabilitation kicks and decided to keep you on.'

Tommy scowled. 'Beat it, trust fund.'

Hunt chuckled. 'Ah, don't worry. I wouldn't want to spend too long near you peasants anyway. The stench of sadism and dirty pennies makes me nauseous.' He strolled by, chuckling to himself.

'Rich bastard.' Tommy muttered, glaring after him. 'I hate that guy.'

Reese watched curiously at Hunt Oakley approached the two Harrington Sisters and put his arm around Brooke Harrington's waist. Brooke went on to paw and chatter away to him, but his eyes were on Darcy. Reese could see already that there was a potentially destructive little triangle going on there. 'So he's with Brooke?' Reese asked.

'Yeah,' Tommy nodded, still with a screwed up nose. 'Although everyone is pretty sure he's her sister and he was sent away to live with a distant relative so no one would get suspicious when they married. Inbred freaks.' Tommy shook his head irritably and then jabbed Reese in the arm. 'Come on. Tour is over. You better get your shit unpacked at some point today, you won't get a chance tomorrow. And I got some Nerds to smash, so unless you want to join us it's probably the only thing you'll have to do anyway.'

Reese nodded and the pair of them made their way back towards the Boy's Dorm. As they walked Reese thought about the students he had seen so far. Some of them he knew he would never be able to take in a fight, but not a single one of them had any smarts. Apart from the Nerds of course… but they were still Nerds. Everyone else seemed to be as smart as road kill. No wonder Tommy had managed to get himself a clique at this dump. In theory Reese could probably get one of his own – if not all of them.

'What the hell are you doing here anyway?' Tommy asked, interrupting his thoughts. 'I thought your mom hated this place. Did she make you come?'

Reese shook his head. 'Nope. I wanted to come.'

Tommy looked at him in bewilderment. 'Seriously? Dude… you must be even crazier that I remember.' He chuckled and shook his head. 'I'll catch up with you later, okay man? The guys have got a kid with my name on.' He patted Reese on his arm. 'It's good to have you here.'

'See you, Tommy. And thanks for the tour.'

Tommy made a clicking sound, winked and saluted him, and then jogged off to the bullies who were still ruthlessly torturing Carlton Nedry. Upon arrival Tommy gave Carlton one nasty looking wedgie, making Carlton squeal in horror and even making Reese wince a little.

Reese took in a breath and cast one look around. Dumb kids. Even Tommy was dumber than Reese remembered him being. But at least it would keep him amused for a little while. After all a little amusement was all he wanted.

* * *

The first night at Bullworth Academy was a strange one. The air was filled with the faint wails of students being tortured somewhere on campus, helping others to brush up on their sadistic bullying skills. The bathroom was already out of bounds due to someone stuffing four or five firecrackers down one of the toilets and toilet paper was already decorating the front of the dorm. The Prefects had finally made an appearance; they were four Orc-like seniors who stomped around the grounds with faces like bulldogs chewing wasps and grabbed anyone who so much as sneezed unexpectedly. Reese was pretty sure he wasn't dumb enough to be caught by them.

He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, still looking out of the window onto the small yard in front of the dorm. Nigel McCormick, the weird bully with the anti-shoe attitude, was moving around in the dark with a tube of superglue in one hand and what looked like a sock full of pennies in the other. He stopped his slow wander every now and again to remove a penny from the sock and then carefully glue it to the yard. Reese watched him for a while, interested in the strange boy's actions. The kids here really were weird. Future residents of death row, certainly.

Reese stood up and stretched. Okay, so maybe today hadn't been particularly eventful but he was still pretty tired. And no wonder really seeing as the clock was making its way around to two am. He glanced to his bed; an uncomfortable looking thing, and then decided to get a drink before he settled down. Probably not the best of ideas with the bathroom out of order…

He had barely gotten two steps out of his room when his nostrils were suddenly assaulted with the strong smell of antiseptic cream, sweat and something sickly sweet. He glanced around and almost let out a startled yell at the round spotted face filling his vision.

'How did you do it?' the fat and freckled nerd asked him, one eye narrowed. His voice hopped up to an impossibly high note as he finished the question, killing any possible intimidation he might have had. He was wearing light blue buttoned up pyjamas and had thick black glasses perched on his piggy nose. His dark hair was sticking up on one side and slicked flat with grease on the other.

'If you mean how do I have smooth skin and soft hair it's because I actually wash once in a while, lardo.' Reese replied, wrinkling his nose. He shook his head and sighed before turning and continuing on to the common room.

'I mean how haven't you been beaten senseless yet?' the fat nerd went on, jogging after him. 'It's your first day, isn't it? The new kid always gets a beating. It's like… tradition.'

Reese shrugged. 'Maybe it's just kids like you who get a beating.' He replied, and then stopped and regarded him. 'You know, if you quit stuffing your face with marshmallows while you're in bed you might lose some of that podge and be able to outrun the bullies.'

The fat kid blushed furiously. 'I don't have marshmallows in my bed.'

'I can smell them,' Reese told him. 'And plus, you have one stuck to your shirt.'

He looked down and noticed the old, squashed pink marsh mellow stuck to the side of his jammies. He pulled it off and flicked it away quickly. 'I'm Herbert Douglas.' He said, holding out one hand.

Reese just looked at him in boredom, and then carried on his way without a word.

'So are you going to tell me?' Herbert asked, still following him. 'Because if you have a secret then I'd love to know what it is… What's your name anyway? Ryan?'

Reese sighed heavily and stopped by archway that led into the common room. The light inside was off but the TV was on. The soda machine, which was Reese's destination, hummed quietly. 'Look sweatshop,' he sighed. 'No offence but my remarkably unbeaten face won't stay unbeaten for long if you keep hanging around me. So beat it.'

Herbert frowned sulkily. 'I was only being friendly…' he mumbled.

'It's Reese,' Reese sighed, shaking his head. 'Reese Nixon.' He paused before adding. 'Smith.'

Herbert sucked in a lungful of breath and his little piggy eyes widened behind his glasses. 'Smith?' he repeated. 'Now hold on, because Smith is a very common name so I don't want to get all excited over nothing… but…'

'Yeah, that Smith.' Reese sighed. Having such a famous name was already beginning to bore him. He made a mental note not to mention 'Smith' again, but it was probably too late by now anyway. 'I don't give a crap if you're another one of my dad's loser idolisers. If you breathe one word to me about how great he was or how crazy he was or how he should have been sectioned or lobotomised I'll punch you so hard you'll be breathing out of your asshole.'

Herbert stared at him, holding his breath. His face started to redden. Reese waited, knowing the kid wouldn't be able to resist saying something. Finally Herbert opened his mouth to speak, but someone interrupted him.

'Do you mind keeping it down? I'm trying to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition.'

It took Reese a moment to register that it was a girl who had spoken and he glanced around in bewilderment. She was lying on the couch, out of sight of him. He glanced back around to Herbert just to see him disappearing around the corner.

'Nice meeting you, Reese!' he called as he hurried away. 'Catch you later!'

Reese frowned in confusion and looked back to the couch. The person there had fallen still and silent, engrossed in the home makeover show on the TV. He hesitated, and then carried on to the soda machine. He bought a soda, cracked it open, and then remained where he was, watching the dark sofa curiously.

After a few moments there came an exasperated sigh. 'Seriously,' the girl said, annoyance in her voice. 'I hate people lingering around in dark corners. My cousin used to do it and it freaked me out. Well, it did when he started with the sock…'

Reese took a sip from the can. 'You are aware that this is the boy's dorm, aren't you?'

The girl sat up and looked at him, eyes wide and mouth forming an o. Reese was actually surprised by her; she was very pretty. Maybe a little skinny, but she had smooth almost sickly pale skin with straight black hair and sharp colourless eyes. 'Oh my God, it's the boy's dorm? I thought those girly screams and creaking springs was the girls having a pillow fight...' She sighed, hit herself on the forehead and rolled her eyes. 'Silly me, that must have been Kingsly and Joshua at it again.' Her face quickly dropped back to bland and uninterested, and then she disappeared once again.

Reese blinked and then took another sip from the soda can. 'I see how you could easily make the mistake.'

The girl exhaled loudly and popped up again. 'Tu stupidus es.' She sighed, shaking her head at him.

Reese smirked. 'What was that?'

'I'm calling you dumb, jackass.' She shot. 'What, you can't speak Latin?'

'I kind of missed the Roman era,' Reese shrugged. 'Hard to believe, isn't it? I'm younger than I look.'

The girl stared at him with narrowed eyes for a moment, and then sat up properly, turning around so she was resting her forearms on the back of the sofa. Reese still couldn't see much of her, but it looked like she was wearing a red long sleeved t-shirt beneath a white Bullworth shirt. Reese simply stared back at her, not wanting to be the one to back down first. This was a challenge in dominance, and he most certainly wasn't going to lose to a girl.

Finally, the girl's pensive expression broke into a smirk. 'So you're the new kid. I'm also guessing you're new to the world of boarding schools seeing as you're so damn full of yourself.'

Reese contemplated it for a moment. 'Yeah… I guess I am pretty full of myself. I've got good reason to be though.'

She smirked again. 'It's claimed that most children are sent to boarding schools to so they have more opportunities than their families can provide. Or because their parents are lazy drunks with too much money and not enough sense. Either way it involves spending most of their early lives in what's basically total institution and most probably will experience social detachment.' She paused, grinning behind her arm like a snake ready to strike. 'But then again it could just be good practice for prison.'

'And I guess all that was to try and prove how smart you are.' Reese said, amused. He leaned against the soda machine and crossed his arms.

She looked mildly irritated. 'I don't need to prove anything to you.'

'Of course you don't.' he chuckled gleefully.

She narrowed her eyes again briefly and then pushed herself up to she was resting on her elbows. 'So you're Reese Nixon-Smith. Double barrelled name. Means your parents aren't married.' She waved her hand and smiled, mocking coyness. 'Oh I'm not going to pretend that I don't know. Your mom was still a student here when she popped you out. How old was she, fifteen? Sixteen? Our age?'

Reese narrowed his eyes briefly but said nothing.

'And your dad was packed off to the loony bin before you'd even reached your third trimester,' the girl went on, eyes blazing mischievously. 'After he managed to reduce this very school to bull bait. And ironically the kid who brought him down ended up bringing you up for most of your life! Until you dad showed up again anyway… which must have been pretty awkward for your mom…' She chuckled gleefully. 'Bet she loved it really though. Us girls love having guys fighting over our lady parts. Anyway… where was I?' She pretended that she had forgotten, tapping her finger on her chin. 'Oh yes, your complicated and screwed up family.' She shook her head sadly. 'I feel for you, Reese. I really do.'

He looked at her for a long moment. 'Alright then. That saved me from telling my life story. Don't think I could have done it better anyway. Who are you then? Sorry that I won't be able to tell your story. I could give it a go though if you like. I bet it involves a pregnant dog and baby swapping at the maternity wing.'

She laughed. 'I would have preferred that.' She replied. 'I'm Taylor Ruxton. I won't go too far into my home life because it's ever so slightly humiliating. Although I can share with you some of the psychological problems it left me with. Would you like to hear some of them?'

Reese shrugged. 'I guess.'

She grinned. 'Well my favourite is pseudologia fantastica. Or if you'd rather, pathological lying. Want a definition?' She sat up and put on a deep, self-important voice. 'Pathological lying is falsification entirely disproportionate to any discernible end in view, may be extensive and very complicated, and may manifest over a period of years or even a lifetime.' She grinned and returned to normal. 'That's an impression of my old therapist, by the way. I was transferred when he tried to get me into his land rover.'

Reese contemplated it for a moment, and then nodded appreciatively. 'Sounds about right. The definition, not the land rover thing.'

'The other one is that I'm a diagnosed narcissist.' She put on the deep voice again. 'The narcissist is described as turning inward for gratification rather than depending on others and as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power and prestige.' She grinned and winked. 'In other words I'm pretty self-centred.'

Reese took a moment to allow all this information to sink in, and then he smiled. 'So in other words, you're completely round the twist. Thanks for confirming that for me.'

Taylor laughed and finally stood up from the sofa, walking around it and standing with her arms folded. She was taller than he had expected. Instead of the fitted school shirts that he had seen the other girls wearing she appeared to be wearing a boy's shirt, with the red long-sleeved t-shirt beneath it. The shirt was unbuttoned a little, revealing a motif in black on the t-shirt but not enough of it to read properly. Her school skirt was light blue plaid, her once white low-topped converse were now a dirty beige and fraying at the edges and she wore no socks beneath them. Her long legs were covered in various scrapes and bruises. She stood for a moment, tapping her fingers on her elbows and sizing him up.

'So you're really a by-product of Gary Smith, huh?' she asked. 'That's cool. I've read a lot about him in old papers and stuff. He was pretty awesome.' She sighed. 'I'm out of my time, I think. I should have been here sixteen years ago.'

Reese frowned a little. 'Telling me that is pretty creepy.'

Taylor shrugged. 'But true.' She stood for a moment, expression becoming slightly dreamy. Her eyes snapped back to him suddenly, sharp like scalpel blades but slightly glazed at the same time. 'Well it was nice to meet you, Reese Nixon-Smith. Just don't let the bastards grind you down.'

With that she grinned again and then headed out of the common room. Reese looked at the spot where she had been, eyes narrowed in thought. After he heard the doors close he chuckled and shook his head, deciding to make his way back to his dorm room.

'Psycho.' He muttered, amused, and went into his room and shut the door.


	6. Long Lonely Nights

**Chapter Six**

**Long Lonely Nights**

Elliott rolled onto her side and narrowed her eyes at the red LED numbers on her alarm clock. 02:29. With a heavy, frustrated sigh she rolled onto her back, gripping onto the sheets. So much for sleep helping her stave off the boredom. After Gary had left she had found it hard to keep herself occupied. Not only was she worried about how Reese was getting on at school but her mind was also whirring about Courtney's theories. It was like her brain just refused to shut off, no matter how much she tried to blank her mind.

She rolled onto her front and pulled the pillow over her head, but the increased darkness only made it easier for her thoughts to make themselves heard. What if Reese had gone and said something to those two monstrous Jocks that had tried to hit on her? As much as he refused to admit it he was extremely defensive of her. It wouldn't be the first time that he attacked someone who had made a passing comment. Reese was a tough kid, but he would be slaughtered by those two 'roid monkeys.

No, he wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight with kids like that. He was sneaky like his dad; he would think of a better way to get back at them if he felt the need.

And his dad… geez now there was a subject that was probably going to keep her awake all night. Gary had stayed until about four, doing nothing apart from shifting boxes around in the garage. Elliott had attempted to help, but after she nearly had her head caved in by a tumbling box he had asked her to keep out of the way, which she had gladly done. After apparently making room in the garage for her car (she was quite sure there had been plenty of room in the first place) he had come inside, had a cup of coffee, forced himself to chat about work, and then left. Not after Elliott had made sure he was serious about going to the reunion. He had promised he would, which was weird in itself because Gary rarely made promises.

With another exasperated sigh, Elliott tossed the pillow across the room and pushed threw the covers off. Trying to sleep was pointless. She needed something to dull these stupid thoughts before she could even try to close her eyes. She slid off the bed, dressed in a pair of navy shorts and an oversized white basketball vest (she had never been one for regular pyjamas; they were just uncomfortable).

'Don't drink coffee…' she muttered to herself as she left the room and flicked on the landing light. 'Don't even think about coffee…'

Despite those thoughts, a couple of moments later she was in the kitchen and waiting for the kettle to boil.

Her mind was still on Gary, though. She wondered if it was probably for the best if he just left. After all everyone still kind of resented him in Bullworth; Jimmy still hated his guts no matter how much he tried to deny it whenever the subject came up. Although that subject rarely came up; she didn't see Jimmy all that often anymore. It was sad, really. Elliott kind of missed Jimmy, but she wouldn't change how things had turned out. Although she would like to change this weird feeling she got when she thought about Gary leaving…

Why the hell should she even care anyway? It wasn't as if they saw each other very often, and apparently they couldn't even keep a decent conversation going anymore. The only thing even keeping them in contact was Reese, and with Reese off at school there wasn't much of a reason for them to see each other at all…

A crash snapped Elliott out of her thoughts and she glanced around in surprise. It sounded like trashcans falling, although Elliott was quite sure her trashcans were in the back. But then again that crash had certainly sounded like it had come from around the back…

There was another crash, followed by a scraping sound. This time Elliott jumped. _Great,_ she thought, panicked. _My first night alone and the murderers turn up_.

She listened intently, her eyes wide and staring at the kitchen window. The blinds were drawn of course, but she still stared. She heard shuffling, then the light sound of the trashcans being replaced. Her eyes went to the back door. There was another shuffle, then a dark shadow fell over the ripple effect glass.

This sight got Elliott moving and she fled the kitchen and raced back upstairs, taking the stairs two at a time. She hauled herself around the hallway and back into her bedroom, where she dived onto the bed, grabbed her cell phone from the bedside table, and pulled the covers over her head.

Elliott sat there under the dark safety of her blanket and clutched her phone to her chest. She listened for anymore sounds, but she couldn't hear anything apart from her own heavy breathing. Quickly she tried to run over what that shadow could have belonged to. A possum? That would explain the crashing trashcans, but not the six foot tall shadow and the fact whoever it was tried to put the bins back upright. At least that what it sounded like. Okay… bear? Elliott shuddered; that wasn't a reassuring thought. Were there bears in Bullworth? She had never heard of any. But there were a lot of forests surrounding the town, who knows what could wander out?

'Screw this.' she muttered, her heart thudding in her chest. She fumbled with the phone, fear taking over her fingers, and called the last number to her phone. She listened to the ringing, expecting to hear Courtney's bleary voice on the other end.

But it wasn't Courtney.

'Hello?' Gary said blearily.

Elliott blinked and checked the screen. Then she remembered that she had called Courtney earlier, and the last person to call her had been Gary. Oh fantastic, this was going to be embarrassing. _Hang up_, she told herself. _He doesn__'__t know it__'__s you yet_.

'Is that you, Elliott?'

_Damn you, caller ID._

'There's someone in my back yard.' she blurted, then instantly felt like an idiot. Now it was definitely going to be a possum or something.

There was a moment in which Gary said nothing. 'Um… what?'

'I was in the kitchen because I couldn't sleep,' Elliott explained quickly. 'And then there was this crash and something's knocked over my trashcans, but it sounded like whatever it was tried to put them back up again, then there was this shadow on my back door and…'

'Uh, did you look out the window?' Gary asked, sounding bewildered and still half asleep.

'What? No.'

'Well look out of the upstairs window,' he told her. 'See if you can see anything.'

Elliott found it hard to pull the cover off her head. 'Um… okay.' she mumbled, then finally gathered enough courage to get out of the bed. She tip-toed out of her room, checking the hall, and then scampered into Reese's room, which looked out over the back lawn.

'Are you sure it's not just a dog or something?' Gary yawned.

Elliott frowned, now quite angry with herself for being dumb enough to call Gary. It was three in the morning and no doubt he had work tomorrow and here she was keeping him awake over a goddamn possum…

'Holy shit!' Elliott hissed, peering out through the dark blue curtains. 'It _is_ a guy! Shit, Gary! What if they're trying to break in? The most lethal thing I own is a frigging butter knife!'

And there _was_ a guy in her back yard. At least she thought it was a guy. There was a figure by her bins, doing something she couldn't quite make out from the awkward angle she was at.

'Are you sure?' Gary asked, now sounding a lot more awake.

'Yes I'm frigging sure!' Elliott snapped. 'I think he's going through my bins! Oh… _Oh urgh_! He's going through my trash, Gary! I've got some weirdo pervert rummaging through my trash!'

'Okay, okay, hold on. I'm on my way.'

'What? You don't have to come over, I'll call the cops. Or throw something heavy at him from out the window.'

'Don't be a moron,' Gary told her. 'Now just hold on and wait for me to get there, okay? Don't do anything stupid, okay?'

'Gary-' Elliott started.

'I'll be ten minutes.'

With that, he hung up. Elliott cursed lightly and tossed her phone onto Reese's bed. Then she peered out of the window again and grimaced. Whoever it was looked like they were sitting down, but she couldn't be sure. She shuddered, remembering that earlier on she had thrown out a bag of old clothes (including some old underwear), and then hopped onto Reese's bed and pulled the covers up.

* * *

Exactly eleven minutes later, Elliott's phone began to vibrate in her hand. This time she actually checked the caller, even though she knew it was going to be Gary. His name glowed on the screen and she quickly answered it, still concealed underneath Reese's bed sheets.

'I'm outside,' Gary reported.

'Do you want me to come down and let you in?' Elliott asked, pushing the blanket aside. 'Although I think he's gone. I haven't heard anything for a while…'

'Why would I want to come inside when this guy is outside?' Gary replied, actually sounding a little impatient. Elliott suddenly felt a pang of guilt. She had woken him up and dragged him all the way up to the Vale in the middle of the night when she could have just called the cops.

'Well at least wait for me to come down,' Elliott insisted, already making her way down the stairs.

'No, you stay where you are.' Gary told her. 'Last thing we need is you doing something stupid like running out with a baseball bat over your head and screaming like a banshee. Just stay put.'

Elliott frowned vaguely. Why the hell hadn't she thought of the baseball bat in Reese's bedroom? Man she was crap in a crisis. 'Well be careful.' she said, standing awkwardly in the hallway.

Gary made a slight snorting sound. 'Yeah, sure.' he muttered, but stayed on the line. Elliott listened to the sound of his breathing as he made his way around the side of the house. For a moment she thought he might be at the wrong house because she couldn't hear him outside, but then she heard the back gate creaking open - both outside and down the phone - and made her way to the kitchen.

'Is he there?' Elliott asked, pulling up the blinds slightly and peering out of the gap at the bottom.

'There's someone here alright.' Gary replied.

Elliott craned her neck until she could see Gary. He was circling the bins warily, phone against his ear. She watched him anxiously as he nudged what looked like a bin bag with his foot. The 'bin bag' shifted and groaned.

'_Shit_!' Gary hissed, backing away.

Elliott's heart skipped a beat. 'What? Who is it?'

Gary chuckled. 'Oh man… Ellie get out here.'

Elliott frowned. 'What? No! Who is it?'

'Just come out. It's okay.'

She hesitated. Gary wouldn't tell her to come out if it was dangerous, but she still felt uneasy. Still, curiosity prevailed and she went to the back door, unlocked it, and then stepped out into the cool night air. She shivered, hugging her bare arms and feeling goose pimples rising on her bare legs, and leaned out.

'It's okay.' Gary told her, half smiling.

She realised she still had the phone to her ear despite the fact he had put his away, and quickly reached back inside to place it on the counter. She stepped outside in her bare feet and scampered over the grass to join his side. She frowned at the heap that lay amongst her bins.

'Who the hell is that?' she asked, screwing up her nose.

'That, Elliott, is the same guy who fell asleep by my trashcans the other night,' Gary grinned. 'Trust me, you're not going to be able to wake him up. I spent three hours trying to get him moved and the guy wouldn't budge. Then as soon as day broke he just got up and stumbled away.'

Elliott frowned and tilted her head at the man who was dozing amongst her rubbish. He had his head rested on one of the trash bags, apparently uncaring that there was slimy rubbish poking out of it. The strangest part was that he was actually wearing quite a smart suit, and he was clean shaven. He looked more like an accountant than a hobo.

'He's harmless.' Gary said, waving a dismissive hand. 'The back gate was unlocked so that was how he got in.'

Elliott turned the bemused frown onto Gary. 'There's an accountant asleep in my trash, and you think that's okay?'

'Why not?' Gary smirked. 'He's not hurting anyone. Seriously, go back to bed. It's fine.'

She just blinked at him, and then looked back at the sleeping man. 'Not frigging likely.' she frowned. She moved to the man and poked him with her toes. 'Hey, buddy, this isn't a B&B.'

The man stirred and grunted, then pulled an old pizza box over his head. Behind, Gary chuckled.

Elliott just felt annoyed. She jabbed him harder with her toes. 'I said beat it. Hey, wakey, wakey!' She prodded him again.

'Elliott, just leave him.' Gary laughed.

'No way!' Elliott cried. 'I'm not going to be able to sleep knowing there's a guy sleeping in my trash.' She kicked him this time. 'Move it!'

The man released a harsh bark and swatted her with one hand. She hopped back before he could hit her, but the way he quickly settled back to deep sleep told her that Gary was most probably right. She blinked at the strange sleeping man for a moment, then looked back to Gary. He was looking sideways at her, faint smile on his face.

'You're acting like this is normal.' she said, confused.

'Well, we are in Bullworth.' he shrugged.

Elliott looked at the man one last time, trying to decide if it was worth moving him, and decided against it. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. 'Wonder where his wife thinks he is.' she mumbled. 'Well, I guess you should come inside.'

Gary's smile faded. 'Oh, no that's okay. I'll just head back home. I'll call you in the morning to make sure he's gone…'

'Don't be stupid,' Elliott frowned, waving a dismissive hand. 'Just come inside. You've come all this way for nothing so you might as well just stay. There's a spare bed.'

Gary rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. 'I uh, no. I don't think so.'

'It's not a problem.' Elliott insisted.

'It's not a very good idea.'

'Not a good idea?' she half laughed. 'Don't be ridiculous.' She tugged his arm. 'Just come inside already, stop being such a woman.'

Gary pulled his arm back and moved away. 'No. Look, trust me, it's not a good idea, Elliott.'

She blinked at him, completely bemused. 'Why not? What do you think's going to happen?'

He lingered there for a moment, eyeing her. Then his eyes trailed down to the sleeping accountant and whatever he had been about to say was lost. 'I'll call you in the morning.' he repeated. 'Just make sure you lock the back door, okay?' He started to go, but Elliott reached out and grabbed his arm.

'Gary,' she frowned. 'You're being creepy again. Stop being so weird and just come inside.'

He sighed and turned to her, still preferring to look at the sleeping accountant than at her. 'I've got to be up early for work in the morning. I've got a lot to get through in the next few days before I have to leave and…' He stopped and sighed before looking at her. 'If I come in there tonight we'll probably have a coffee and chat a while, then you'll go up to bed and I'll stay on the couch or whatever and that'll be enough to convince me to turn down this job. I'll end up working at those damn docks forever, hanging around in the background, turning up here whenever some… some weirdo falls asleep in the trash and watching Reese growing up and moving on.' He hesitated and looked back to the accountant. 'Watching you growing up and moving on.'

Elliott blinked. After a moment she opened her mouth to voice some kind of response, even though she had no idea what it was going to be - but Gary was already backing away.

'I'll call.' he assured her. 'Seriously, don't worry about him. He's harmless.'

With that he nodded, without looking at her, and then turned and walked away through the gate.

Elliott watched him go in bewilderment. Her confused expression turned into a frown and she looked down at the sleeping accountant. He shifted, snorted, then resumed snoring.

'At least someone will get a good nights sleep.' she muttered, and then headed back inside - remembering to lock the door behind her.


	7. My First Enemy

**A/N:** Another uber long chapter... because they're so long I won't be updating as often. And plus I've been going crazy with my graphics tablet, it's kind of distracting me from writing xD Anyway, thanks for the reviews everyone! ^_^

* * *

** Chapter Seven**

**My First Enemy**

The bed springs creaked agonisingly as all one hundred and thirteen pounds of Tommy Jackson dived onto it. He pulled the cover down to reveal Reese's groggy groaning face and grinned mischievously.

'Wakey, wakey, Sleeping Beauty!' Tommy bellowed into his ear. 'Today's your first official day as a scumbag Academy kid! Get dressed and get your ass over to the auditorium for the induction assembly.'

Reese wasn't used to waking before eight o'clock, so he wasn't best impressed to see that it was only seven. 'Piss off,' he muttered, waving a hand around like he was swatting a bug. 'Got plenty of time.'

Tommy pulled the cover down again. 'I'm not leaving 'til you get up buddy.' He replied. 'I can be unrelentingly annoying.'

'I gathered that.' Reese grumbled as he attempted to pull the covers over his head again.

Tommy yanked them down. 'You want me to get Joshua in? Cos he can get you out of bed in a flash. If you fall asleep with him hanging around you can be sure you'll wake up with a distinctly wet and uncomfortable feeling in your-'

Reese sighed and pushed himself up on his elbow. 'Right, right. Fine. I'm getting up.' He shoved Tommy off the bed, causing him to thump noisily on the wooden floor before sitting up and rubbing his face with both hands. His hair was sticking up all over the place and his eyes were puffy from sleep. 'Why the hell are you up so early?'

Tommy shrugged, now sitting up on the floor with his arms resting on the bed. 'I only sleep for about four hours a night. All I need to keep me alive really. And plus the guys and I like to secure the back row seats in the auditorium for some good old anonymous missile pitching. You can only get away with it in the back row and the row seventh from the front.' He paused and cocked his head. 'Never understood that. Row seven must just be a blind spot to the faculty.'

Reese ran his hands over his head, trying to wake himself up quicker. 'Can't you just sit somewhere else for today? Unlike you I need more than four hours sleep. Five would have been nice.'

Tommy rolled his eyes. 'And make the other kids think we're going to give them an easy year? I think not.' He sprang to his feet and clapped his hands noisily. Reese flinched at the sound. 'I'll expect to see you outside in no more than five minutes. And don't try and make excuses like you need to wash and shit like that because the bathroom is still out of bounds. If you need to pee just go round the back of the dorm or something. That's what everyone else does.'

Reese rubbed his head. 'Whatever. Just get out.'

Tommy bowed deeply and backed out of the room. 'As you wish, sir.' He said grandly. With a chuckle he backed out of the door and slammed it loudly behind him. Again Reese flinched. He had forgotten just how unbearable Tommy Jackson was.

* * *

Ten minutes later Reese emerged from the Boy's Dorm, face screwed up against the warm morning sun. He pulled at his grey sweater vest. It felt uncomfortable and twisted, although he couldn't for the life of him make it feel normal.

Like Tommy had said, the whole group of bullies were waiting for him by the archway. Kingsly and Joshua were roughhousing while Nigel looked on with the same uninterested look on his face. Blaine was hunched down and prodding at something on the floor with a twig. Tommy was watching Kingsly and Joshua, expression thoughtful. There was no one else around apart from tall, skinny kid with thick brown hair and dressed in a dark green school sweater and black slacks. He was wandering around and looking directly up at the sky. Reese found himself glancing up to see what was so interesting, but he could see nothing. Not even a cloud.

'Reese!' Tommy called to him. 'Get a move on man! Christ you're like a woman! What were you doing, putting on your fake tan? Painting your toenails?'

Reese frowned vaguely and trotted down the steps, rubbing one eye with his fist. He approached the group slowly, still bitter at been woken so early. 'Actually I was fixing on my false eyelashes.' He allowed his arms to drop by his sides and sighed heavily. 'So are we going or what?'

'Hey!' Kingsly yelped suddenly, hopping away from Joshua with a shocked expression. 'You did it again man! What have I told you?'

Joshua shrugged defensively. 'My hand just slipped, dude, that's all.'

Kingsly moved away from him, muttering and rubbing his hands on his shirt. Joshua blushed a little and turned away, frowning. Reese eyed him curiously for a moment, and then glanced questioningly to Tommy. But either Tommy hadn't noticed or it was a common event as he didn't react to it.

'Yeah, we're ready.' He said. 'Come on, guys.'

'Wait,' Nigel said, raising one hand. He was watching the dark haired kid with one narrowed eye. 'He's gonna see it.'

Tommy sighed and rolled his eyes. 'Nigel, man, he's been wandering around there all morning. He's not going to see it.'

Nigel frowned but didn't take his eyes off the kid. 'He'll see it.' He said darkly.

'See what?' Reese asked.

Tommy slumped and leaned against the wall. He shrugged apologetically to Reese. 'It shouldn't take long.' He said.

Reese lowered one eyebrow and looked across to the dark haired kid again. Now all the bullies were watching him. He continued staring upwards for another few seconds before returning his head to its regular position. He rolled his head around, presumably to rid himself of the inevitable crick in his neck, and then noticed something on the floor. Nigel straightened up and took a step forward. The dark haired kid bent over, making the fatal mistake of keeping his back to the bullies, and then tried to pick something up from the floor.

Nigel was off before Reese had even released what was happening. He raced towards the unfortunate dark haired kid and then drew his foot right back. Tommy hissed, anticipating the impact, and then with an awful whumph Nigel's large, sandal-clad foot mashed against the dark haired kids vulnerable rear and caused him to fall flat on his face.

'Score!' Blaine hooted, punching the air.

Tommy raised his hands. 'Right, you got your kid. Can we please go now?'

Nigel shrugged, now oblivious of the groaning kid writhing on the floor. He pushed his hands in his pockets and rejoined them; the bored and distant look back on his face. 'Sure.'

Reese looked over to the kid, a little taken aback by the attack. Then he remembered Nigel gluing down the pennies the night before and suddenly found himself quite impressed by his forethought and patience.

'He'll be fine,' Tommy said, assuming that Reese was concerned for the kid. 'That's Earl Hardwicke. He's had a lot worse than that, trust me. He'll be happy that it was just the one kick he got. Come on, we're already running late as it is.'

Reese nodded. The other bullies were walking ahead. Joshua and Kingsly were play fighting again. Nigel and Blaine wandered along together, Blaine chattering animatedly and miming holding someone by their shirt and punching them in the face.

'The kids here are pretty psychotic,' Reese commented. 'I mean I always knew it, but it still takes you back when you see it for yourself.'

Tommy nodded. 'Oh hell yeah. This place just creates crazed kids. Did you know that Blaine was actually a smart, quiet and pretty balanced kid when he first started here? He got his ass kicked in the locker room and got some kind of brain damage thing. After that… well, you can see for yourself. He's probably one of the nastiest and dumbest kids at this school.'

'Who kicked his ass?' Reese asked.

'Me and Kingsly.' Tommy replied, and then shrugged defensively. 'He was the new kid.'

'Right.' Reese cocked an eyebrow and decided to change the subject. 'Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you… You know you mentioned some chick called Taylor Ruxton…?'

Tommy turned and looked at him with his eyebrows drawn together. 'Dude…' He said darkly, shaking his head. 'So you met her?'

'She was sitting watching the TV in the common room at like… two in the morning.' Reese replied. 'Does she always do that?'

Tommy nodded. 'She is mental, dude. Seriously. If she strolls into your room and decides to take a crap in the corner, you let her do it. She's a complete head case. Even Crabblesnitch won't expel her or anything. She's also the smartest kid in the school, better test scores than even Carlton, and it's like that gives her some kind of immunity. She goes anywhere. None of the cliques bother her; Brooke Harrington just point blank refuses her existence… If there's one person you don't get on the wrong side of in this school, let it be Taylor Ruxton. Some of the kids say that she's some kind of neo-nazi lesbian or something. Hunt Oakley seems to think that she's related to Crabblesnitch. Joey Rizzo says she's some kind of human Black Widow spider that lures in guys just to lop their balls off for trophies. Of course that's ridiculous though, there's no way she could be related to Crabblesnitch.'

Reese laughed. 'Man, she's just some fruit loop. She's harmless.'

Tommy shook his head. 'No way, man. Don't underestimate her. Do you like your balls? If you like them you'll stay on her good side.' He shuddered visibly. 'But man she's hot. If she wasn't so crazy…'

Reese shook his head. 'You just don't stop, do you?'

Tommy shrugged his shoulders. 'If it was dark enough I'd probably think you're hot.' He admitted. 'Come on, the guys are leaving us behind.' He jogged to catch up with the others. Reese continued at his own speed, pushing his hands in his pockets and wishing he were still in bed.

* * *

Apparently the back row was incredibly sought after. When they reached the auditorium the Greasers were already hanging around by the door. They didn't acknowledge the bullies as they gathered a little away from them to wait for the auditorium to open. Dante Romano was there with Joey Rizzo practically glued to his left shoulder. He talked quickly and quietly about his bike while another two Greasers listened intently. Quietly, Tommy informed him that the overweight dark haired Greaser was called Jackie Esposito and the short, baby faced red-head was called TJ Spinelli. Despite talking about the guys, Tommy's eyes were glued to Lara Romano, who was standing on the right side of her brother and examining her fingernails.

The auditorium doors opened about twenty minutes later. As expected the Greasers filled up the back row, leaving the bullies to inhabit the seventh row. Tommy seemed a bit put out by it all and fell quiet and sulky. The others didn't seem to care as they settled into their seats. Almost immediately Nigel and Blaine pulled out straws from their pockets and rolls off tissue paper. Blaine bit off a piece and began to chew on it whilst looking up at the empty stage, resembling some kind of brainless llama.

Another half hour later and the other students began to file in. The Nerds filled up the front row. Reese watched them go by curiously; he recognised Carlton Nedry, Herbert Douglas and Mallory Steiner from yesterday, but there were two others also; a short rodent like kid and a tall goofy guy who smiled and greeted nearly everyone he passed, including Reese. Reese could only frown in confusion.

Then the Preps sauntered in. Brooke and Darcy Harrington led the way, closely flanked by Hunt Oakley and three other male preps. Reese didn't take any more time to study them; he had already made his mind up that they were all bastards. After them came a scattered group of friendless kids, the non-clique kids, apparently. Amongst them was Earl Hardwicke, who was still rubbing his rear and wincing. Reese watched him as he took his seat, unable to stifle a chuckle as the kid winced and shifted uncomfortably.

Watching Earl meant that he missed the Jocks entering, and only became aware of them when he heard a deep, dumb laugh from behind him followed by a shrill, 'Todd, you're disgusting.'

Reese glanced over his shoulder. Brittany Henderson was grimacing at Todd who was laughing hysterically.

'You want disgusting?' Todd laughed. 'I can do disgusting if that's what you're into. Just get me a two way mirror, a thong and Edna.'

'Ew!' Brittany squealed, shaking her hands.

Reese turned back around again, eyes narrowing as he scanned the surrounding kids. There were still plenty of empty spaces. The auditorium had been built to house at least two hundred people by the looks of it, but there were no more than fifty kids sitting around. Fifty dumb kids.

He blinked as he felt fingers poke him hard in the back. 'Hey,' a deep voice barked. 'You're that Smith kid, aintcha?'

Reese turned around, resting his arm on the back of his seat. Tommy and Kingsly followed suit, but the other bullies were too busy spitting balled up pieces of paper over the Preps and onto the Nerds. The Jock that had spoken to him was none other than Chuck Wiles.

Reese smirked. 'Yeah. And you're that 'roid monkey, aintcha?'

Chuck frowned deeply. 'You want to watch your mouth, pal. You're new here so I'll let that one slide. Next time I ask you a question you just answer yes or no, got that twerp?'

'Does that one class as the next question?' Reese asked, mocking confusion. 'I always end up making stupid social blunders like this.'

Kingsly sniggered behind his fist. Tommy watched with an unreadable expression. Chuck didn't look at all happy, and neither did the other Jocks who had stopped to watch.

'Is that the new kid?' Todd Peterson asked with a frown. 'What happened to your face, man? It's all cut up.'

'I got hit by a car that was originally trying to mow down my mom and dad.' Reese replied. 'That was a fun night.'

Chuck laughed. 'Oh yeah, you're from that nut job family, aintcha? Yeah you're pretty well known around here, kiddo. Mandy says she remembers your folks. She says she's surprised you weren't born with some kind of mutation or something'.'

Reese nodded. 'I know. I wish I'd been born with an oversized pituitary gland like you guys. I guess I'll just have to make do with being normal, huh? Although I suppose the gland thing is to make up for your distinct lack of cognitive functions… so I guess it all balances out.'

Todd stared at him. 'What the hell is he talkin' about, Chuck?' He started to get up. 'Don't make me smash your teeth you little dirtbag.'

Chuck grabbed Todd's huge forearm and made him sit again. He stared hard at Reese. 'Chill, Todd. The induction is just about to start. Don't want to ruin it, do we?'

Reese eyed him for a moment before turning back around in his seat. Tommy leaned to him. 'Careful, man.' He whispered.

Reese just ignored him. A moment later Dr Crabblesnitch made his way onto the stage. He moved slowly and with the aid of a smooth, dark wooden walking stick. When he reached the podium he seemed a little breathless. Either out of respect or fear of the four Prefects who were now standing down the sides of the seats, the students fell silent.

'Morning,' Crabblesnitch breathed. 'I'm proud to see so many bright and intelligent pairs of eyes on me this morning…'

'Smith,' Chuck hissed in Reese's ear, making it tickle. 'If you've got any sense in that scattered little brain of yours you'll know better than to speak to me like that again.'

Reese narrowed his eyes and listened to him, but showed no indication that he was. He watched Crabblesnitch on the stage, despite not hearing what he was saying.

'You're nothing but another faceless little shit that will more than likely get stuck in the grips on the bottom of my shoe. You keep off my shoes and we won't have a problem, got that?'

Reese turned his head slightly and half grinned at Chuck. 'Just a tip, sweetheart, bring me some flowers next time you want to get so close.' He turned forward again.

Chuck snorted furiously. 'You listen to me you little turd,' he hissed. 'You're nothing, got that? You think you're some big shot kid cos your dad was some big fucking loser who got a bunch of kids to fight. Well you must be as round the bend as he is if you think that's gonna make any difference around here. He's nothing but some stupid story around here now. He's nothin', just like you.'

Reese felt his teeth gritting together and his fists clenching, but he tried to calm himself.

'You're nothing but New Coventry scum with a psycho for a dad and a whore for a mom.'

Reese sprang to his feet and whirled around. Chuck only had the chance to look briefly confused as Reese's fist slammed into his nose. 'Don't you dare say that about her!' he yelled, silencing Crabblesnitch. 'You floppy dicked 'roid monkey!'

A couple of kids hooted and cheered, but Reese didn't get the chance to see who they were. He was seized immediately by two giant Prefects. They practically lifted him off his feet and marched him to the door.

'You little punk!' Todd Peterson yelled, shaking his fist angrily while Chuck clutched his bloody nose. 'You'll pay for that you little turd! You just made one hell of a mistake!'

Reese struggled against the two Prefects so he could grin broadly at the fuming Jocks. 'It was worth it!' he called before he was yanked violently out of the auditorium.

* * *

Guarded by the stuffy receptionist Miss Danvers, Reese sat on the couch by Dr Crabblesnitch's office and picked thoughtfully at the worn green material. He hadn't meant to snap like that in the auditorium, but Chuck Wiles hadn't particularly left him with much choice. Reese could take a lot of verbal abuse; about himself, his strange upbringing, the scar that forever marked his face… But he could not take anyone ridiculing his mother. As much as he tried to hide it he was incredibly defensive of her. No one, no matter who they were, got away with calling his mom a whore.

Despite not regretting punching Chuck Wiles in his stupid square-jawed face, Reese knew it was certainly going to be a problem in the future. The Jocks weren't going to give him an easy time until they got him back. Lucky he had the Bullies on his side then. Maybe they would soften the blow a little. Tommy wouldn't let him get brought down on his first day by a bunch of dumb footballers.

'Smith,' Miss Danvers barked suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts. 'Dr Crabblesnitch will see you in his office now.'

Reese blinked. 'But he's still in the auditorium.'

'No he's not. He's waiting for you in his office. Don't keep Dr Crabblesnitch waiting, boy.'

Reese cocked his head in confusion, trying to remember seeing Crabblesnitch passing him. He couldn't. He stood up anyway, pushing his hands in his pockets and heading for the Principal's office. As Miss Danvers had said Crabblesnitch was there and waiting. Confused, Reese looked around for another way that the headmaster could have arrived but the only entrance was through the reception.

'Reese.' Crabblesnitch said, brow darkening. 'Sit down.'

Reese dropped into one of the seats opposite his grand desk and began to pick at the stitching at the bottom of his sweater vest.

'Three minutes into the induction assembly,' Crabblesnitch breathed. 'I think that is most probably a record for a new student. Usually they wait until at least the third day before they show blatant disrespect for the Prefects, the faculty and the students. What do you have to say for yourself, boy?'

Reese shrugged. 'He provoked me, sir.' He replied.

'Provoked you?' Dr Crabblesnitch enquired. 'And how did he do that when he was sitting behind you?'

Reese glanced up and held Crabblesnitch's gaze. 'He called my mom a whore.'

Crabblesnitch blinked. 'Oh.' He managed finally, appearing to be momentarily flustered. 'Well… If that is true then while I don't condone your behaviour I certainly don't tolerate insulting another boy's mother…' He paused thoughtfully. 'Violent behaviour is not the answer, do you understand that? If something like this happens again then I'll expect you to come to me or one of the faculty members instead of taking matters into your own hands.'

Reese exhaled through his nostrils and shook his head slightly. 'Yeah, whatever.' He mumbled.

Crabblesnitch leaned forward, clasping his hands on the desk. 'You do not need to prove anything here, boy. You do not need to treat me as the enemy. However if you insist on calling me out to battle then I will have no choice but to step forth. And I can guarantee you, Smith, I'll win that war.'

Reese smirked a little. 'Yes sir.'

Crabblesnitch eyed him. 'I want you back in your dorm until classes start this afternoon. Between now and then I will decide if I'm going to punish you or simply give you another warning. Either way I will let you know by the end of the day. Now get out of my sight, Smith.'

Reese pushed himself out of the chair without hesitation or another word and moved swiftly out of the door. He strolled by Miss Danvers, saluting her lazily as he passed. She simply glared at him and muttered; 'Little horror' under her breath. He only smiled pleasantly and passed through onto the landing. The last few stragglers were still heading out of the auditorium and leaving the building. Those stragglers were of course just more victims of Tommy and his Droogs who were hanging around by the main doors.

Kingsly currently had hold of Herbert Douglas by his belt loop and was swinging him around with ease, despite being half the size of the overweight nerd. Tommy was leaning against the wall, head down and brow furrowed in deep thought. For someone as spontaneous and dumb as Tommy Jackson, he sure did look like he was deep in thought pretty often. Reese watched him for a moment. Maybe Tommy was smarter than he let on. After all he had managed to get himself in charge of a good clique and he seemed to know the ins and outs of the school pretty well. He had also looked very wary in the auditorium…

Reese realised that Tommy knew something important about the Jocks. That was why he had told him to be careful when Chuck had been provoking him. Curious to know what it was, Reese started down the stairs towards them.

'Psst,' a voice hissed from above. 'Hey! Up here!'

Reese frowned and looked around. Then he held back a loud groan at the sight of Taylor Ruxton hanging over the wooden rail and grinning down at him from in front of the trophy cabinet.

'Oh. It's you.'

Taylor grinned. 'The one and only. Now are you going to stand there trying to see if you can get a glimpse up my skirt or are you going to come up here and see what it is that I have to tell you?'

Reese raised an eyebrow. 'Looking up your skirt would be like peering into the pits of hell, so excuse me if I pass on that.'

Taylor ran her tongue over her teeth. 'It is pretty hot down there.'

Reese rolled his eyes and looked away. 'Right. Sorry, Norman Bates, but I've got things to be doing.' Shaking his head he went to continue heading down the steps.

'Good work giving Chuck Wiles a nose full.' Taylor said. 'I've been wanting to punch that guy ever since he stole my Barbie in first grade and fed it to a cow. Although I guess I got him back… I tied him down in the yard and poured ants down his pants.'

Reese looked at her for a moment. 'Look, I'd love to stay and… continue whatever this is… but I'm a busy guy, okay?'

'Busy?' Taylor asked. 'What do you have to do? Can I come? I'd love to be busy.'

'You're such a headcase.' Reese told her. 'At least I know what to get you for Christmas; ten rolls of rubber wallpaper and a straightjacket.'

'If you want to go after the Jocks it's no good going to your little buddy Tommy.' Taylor told him, resting her chin on the wooden rail. 'He won't help you. Mainly because he's a little wuss and doesn't want to get his ass kicked and lose the respect of his little gay boys. And plus, if you want to be so ambitious as to hit the big guys first, there's a few things you need to take into account.'

Reese regarded her for a moment. How did she know that he wanted to take down the Jocks just because he had punched one of them for calling his mom a whore? Was it just an assumption because she knew his family history? Or could she really tell? Tommy had said she was pretty smart. So what if she was probably a diagnosed psychopath? She could be useful.

'Alright then,' Reese said. 'I'm listening.'

Taylor chuckled. 'Good for you.' She paused. 'I hope you don't think I was going to tell you how to hit the Jocks. Oh no, I want you to do that on your own. It wouldn't be any fun if you didn't screw it up a few times first.'

Reese sighed in exasperation. 'Whatever. Bye, Taylor.'

'Brian Ostner.' She called after him.

He glanced back to her. 'Who?'

'Meanest Prefect on campus.' She told him with a gleam in her eye. 'He's the one who can snap tree trunks with his pinkies. Big guy, shaved head, looks like a drill sergeant. Sometimes spends a little too long in the communal showers.'

Reese shook his head. 'They dragged me out of the auditorium pretty fast. Didn't get a good look at them.'

'Well Brian Ostner is the number one wrestling champ at this school. Which goes without saying…'

Reese nodded. 'Ah. He's a Jock.'

Taylor winked and made a gun with her finger. 'Correctamundo.'

Reese frowned in thought. 'So that means the Jocks have the Prefects on their side? I didn't realise that…'

'Yeah well that's something you need to take into account,' Taylor told him. 'And I hope you're not planning on trying to beat them down or anything because frankly…' She trailed off, noticing something behind Reese. Her grin widened and her eyes sparkled. 'Hey there, sexy.'

Reese glanced around to see who she was talking to and saw it was Tommy. 'Hey,' Reese nodded. 'Crabblesnitch is a total wuss man. He didn't even-'

'What's your damage?' Tommy scowled. 'Are you completely insane?'

Reese blinked at him and then glanced back to Taylor questioningly.

'For once I think that question is not being directed at me.' She smirked.

Reese turned back to Tommy and laughed in confusion. 'What's my damage? What are you talking about?'

'Smashing Chuck Wiles' nose,' Tommy frowned. 'Do you want to be killed? Cos you're certainly going the right way about it. You don't mess with the Jocks, man. That's not how it works. That's not the rules.'

Reese was confused. He hadn't realised just how much Tommy obeyed the social order at the school. Then it all made sense; his passiveness towards the Greasers, his complete avoidance of the Jocks… Tommy had his place here at Bullworth and he didn't want it to change.

'Screw the rules.' Reese chuckled, trying to hide his bewilderment at his friend's blind obedience. 'New year, new rules. Kids like Chuck Wiles aren't going to have it easy while I'm here. I'm not going to sit back and take crap off those morons.'

Tommy shook his head. 'You're crazy, man. You'll get yourself killed.'

'At least it'll be bloody.' Taylor grinned. She had managed to join them on the stairs without them even noticing that she had moved.

'Who invited you, psycho?' Tommy shot at her angrily. 'Haven't you got some testicles to be arranging?'

Taylor lowered her chin and smiled coyly. 'I do need to dust that little shelf that I'm keeping for you, Tommy.' She winked and licked her top lip.

Tommy flushed visibly and returned his attention back to Reese. 'Seriously, man,' he said. 'You don't know what this place is like. The Jocks aren't just big dumb tough kids, they've got the Prefects on their side. And the Prefects… man you don't even want them on your case. They'll make your life hell. You should be grateful! You've had a better start than most kids here! You haven't even been punched yet!'

'I'm not going to let anyone punch me.' Reese scoffed. 'Tommy, these kids are dumb. All they need is for someone to show them who's boss and they'll turn into pussycats.'

'Meow.' Taylor added.

Reese and Tommy glanced to her in bewilderment before turning back to each other. 'You've got to understand, man,' Tommy sighed. 'They're not as dumb as they look. Seriously. They'll kill you.'

Reese chuckled and waved a dismissive hand. 'Trust me, I've got it all figured out. In a couple of weeks you'll see.'

'That's if you're still alive in a couple of weeks.' Tommy muttered. 'If you're going to mess with those kids then I'm not getting involved. I've got it okay, y'know? I don't want to get myself killed just because you want to see how far you can push people.'

'I think it's a good idea,' Taylor said cheerily. 'I'd like to see some of these kids getting their comeuppance.' She jabbed Reese in his arm with one finger. 'I'm with you.'

Reese rubbed his arm and frowned at her. 'Gee, thanks.' He said sarcastically, eyeing her distastefully. 'That really helps the cause.'

'If she agrees with you then it's definitely crazy.' Tommy pointed out, nodding his head in Taylor's direction.

'What's wrong, Tommy?' Taylor grinned, putting her hands behind her back and leaning forward. 'You chicken? If you want I can make a man out of you.' She winked again, and again Tommy looked deeply uncomfortable. Frowning at her, he took Reese's arm and began to lead him down the remaining stairs.

'Get away from her, man,' he said. 'She's crazy. It must be contagious or something.'

Taylor followed them, trotting to join Tommy's side. 'C'mon, Tommy. I thought you were the big bad bully. Surely you're not scared of a few Jocks. Reese hasn't been here five minutes and he's not scared to stand up to them. That may be due to being dropped on his head as a kid but hell, who's not crazy in this place?'

'You want to screw off, Taylor,' Tommy hissed at her. 'This is between me and Reese. Go get your kicks elsewhere.'

Taylor grinned that snaky grin and leaned towards him. 'Well I guess I know when I'm not wanted.' Her hand shot out and she squeezed Tommy's rear, causing him to jump in surprise, before winking at Reese. 'Ta-ta, boys.' With that she strutted off towards the doors. The bullies lingering there quickly got out of her way, like a pack of dogs giving way to a wolf.

Tommy looked flustered. 'Man…' he sighed, shaking his head. 'I think I need a cold shower.'

Reese shook his head. 'You've got major issues, man. Is there anyone at this school who doesn't make you need a cold shower?'

Tommy shot him a serious look. 'My issues aren't as big as yours, dude. I'm not kidding, Reese. Watch it. Things can get nasty real quick around here.' He patted him on the arm and moved away. 'I'll probably see you after classes. Watch yourself.'

Reese just watched Tommy join his group and then lead them out of the school building. Reese remained where he was, alone in the entrance hall, and wondered why Tommy was so afraid of change.


	8. Work Arrangements

**A/N:** I don't have much computer time today, so this is just a quick update. And plus it's not very Bully-like... so I didn't want to go on. But it's essential for the story, trust me :p And thanks for the reviews everyone! You're all uber mega sooper dooper speshul awesomites xD

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**Work Arrangements**

Despite Elliott's new job being the reason for her big house and her small but comfortable car, she still hated it immensely. She had fought long and hard to get these days off to sort out her new house, and yet they still thought it was perfectly acceptable to call her at six am - a mere three hours after she had been trying to herd a drunk accountant from her back garden - and ask her to come in to help them find a client's file that _she_ had apparently misplaced. Which was a load of crap because Elliott hadn't filed anything in over two months.

But she couldn't tell them to sling their hook, no matter how badly her head was aching. Her office was the kind of place where you had to do what you were told immediately. Even a brief hesitation could get you kicked to the curb. And as much as Elliott hated her stupid, strict job, it was probably the best thing she was ever going to get in this town.

So now she stood in the kitchen, guzzling down the last of her lukewarm coffee and dressed in her standard work uniform; a white, creaseless shirt, a smooth black pencil skirt and matte black court shoes. She hated dressing like this, it always made her uncomfortable and self-conscious, but apparently she had no choice. Once she had wore a pair of trousers and got daggers from her boss for the rest of the day. Apparently trousers made receptionists look shabby.

Elliott thumped down the coffee cup and headed to the front door, picking up her handbag on the way. She had checked on the accountant first thing, but he had disappeared. She had been tempted to go back out after Gary had gone and pin a little note to his jacket, asking him to at least find a park bench next time, but she had been scared to. She had had many vivid visions of sleepy-accountant leaping up with a hacksaw and a manic laugh. But at least he was gone. That would certainly teach her to keep her back gate locked from now on.

She went outside, her mind trying to push onto the subject of Gary, but she was damned if she was going to let that weirdness mess up her day as well as being called into work. She was going to find this stupid file, remind them all that she was still on holiday, call in the store on the way home, make herself a big jug of Sangria and sit out in the sunny garden for the rest of the day. Screw the housework - she wanted a break.

Elliott walked along the path towards her small dark red car that was sitting by the sidewalk, and rummaged through her bag for her car keys. Because she was too busy with her head practically in her handbag, she hadn't been watching where she was going. Unlucky for her that there was someone walking along the sidewalk who also wasn't paying attention to where he was going. The two of them clashed, Elliott's bag dropping to the ground and contents spilling all over the sidewalk. The man who she had bumped into dropped his cell phone that he had been tapping away on, and it clattered noisily on the ground.

Elliott opened her mouth and snapped her head around, ready to rip the head off this brainless moron who had just managed to make her crappy morning into a shitty morning, but she didn't get the chance to.

'Oh damn it,' the man frowned, looking down at the carnage on the ground. 'I'm awfully sorry. I was in a total world of my own. Here, let me help you…'

Elliott blinked at him. He was quite tall and slim, but she knew from the impact that he was quite solid, and she thought she could pin him at about thirty or so - perhaps a little older than her. He had lightly tanned skin with a short, light brown beard that was a tone lighter than his strangely styled hair. It was spiked in various directions with hair gel. Certainly weird, but he seemed to suit it somehow. His eyes were a strange shade of hazel - more yellow than brown. Elliott found herself a bit taken aback by him.

'I swear I need to get my head out of the clouds sometimes,' the man chuckled, now kneeling down and attempting to gather up Elliott's spilled belongings. 'But it's just this damn phone. I don't understand these kids you see who can walk down the street sending messages and chatting to their friends at the same time as well as eating a burger or something. I can barely message and walk, as I've just proved. But it's not exactly practical to stop dead every time you need to send one, is it?'

Elliott finally got herself together and knelt down also, picking up her handbag and quickly tossing her purse inside. She was grateful that she had nothing too embarrassing in there. 'It's okay,' she replied. 'I wasn't watching where I was going either. Maybe if I didn't have so much crap in my bag I wouldn't have had to stick my head inside to find my keys.'

The man picked up her keys from the sidewalk and held them up. 'Well tipping your bag onto the ground is one way to find something quickly.' He smiled lopsidedly. For the first time Elliott noticed that he was dressed in a smart black suit, with a dark blue shirt beneath it and no tie. His smooth black briefcase implied that he was also off to work, but he looked like the kind of guy who would drive a Porsche to work, not walk like a regular person.

Elliott smiled and took the keys. 'Well I'll keep that in mind next time I'm in a hurry.' She quickly repacked her bag and stood up again, allowing her keys to slip on her middle finger. The man rose also, checking his phone for scratches. 'Thanks,' she said awkwardly. 'And… uh, sorry I guess.'

'No worries.' he looked down at her, probably for the first time. He paused, and then stuck a hand out. 'I'm Cole. Cole Oakley.'

Elliott hesitated, knowing that she had to be at the office in no more than fifteen minutes. She shook his hand anyway and smiled. 'Elliott Nixon.'

His hand was warm and his handshake was firm. 'Very nice to meet you, Elliott.' His eyes glanced towards her house. 'So you're the new kid on the block? It's a nice area. I've only just arrived back in Bullworth. I've been in Vegas for the past week and a half.'

Elliott smiled politely. 'Have fun?'

'It was for a client.' Cole shrugged. 'One thing you can always been sure of in my line of work is that there's a never ending stream of clients in Las Vegas.'

Elliott looked at him cluelessly, causing him to laugh softly.

'I'm a lawyer.' he said apologetically. 'So I'll understand if you turn and run screaming.'

Elliott felt a pang of annoyance. She _hated_ lawyers. Mainly because she worked for some of them. The office in which she worked occasionally gave space to them, and because Elliott was signed to the building then she was obliged to work for them. Obviously he was just one of those sleazy rich snobs that would forever clog up Bullworth Vale. It was the only thing Elliott hated about the Vale; but then again nowhere was perfect. She still smiled though. 'Nothing wrong with lawyers,' she lied. 'Someone's got to do it.'

'Yes, you're right.' Cole nodded, eyeing her. 'Well like I said, it was wonderful to meet you Miss Nixon. It is _miss_, isn't it? Only I remember seeing you when you were viewing the house. I was passing by, I wasn't watching the house.' He laughed. 'I saw you had a young boy with you. Your son?'

Elliott blinked. Oh God, was he testing if she was married? 'Actually it's just Elliott.' she countered, deciding not to broadcast her marital status. 'And that was my son, Reese, but he's not here anymore. He enrolled at the Academy just yesterday.'

'Oh, right,' Cole nodded appreciatively. 'Wonderful school. It has a bit of a reputation, but there's nothing wrong with hard spirited kids. My nephew attends that school actually. His name is Hunt Oakley.'

Elliott nodded, imagining that Reese probably hated him. 'I'll make sure I mention it to Reese when I see him.'

'You certainly look young to have a teenage son, if you don't mind me saying.'

Elliott smiled wanly, thinking of her impatient boss. 'I moisturise.'

Cole laughed, and then eyed her for a moment longer with those peculiarly coloured eyes. 'Well I look forward to the next time we run into each other, Elliott.'

'Yeah,' Elliott nodded, just wanting to go. 'Nice meeting you.'

He nodded and flashed a dazzling smile at her before continuing along the sidewalk, polishing his phone on the front of his shirt. Elliott found herself watching after him, perplexed by the meeting. Well at least her new next door neighbour wasn't like her old one; an alcoholic old woman who often took her out her trash after forgetting to get dressed. That was certainly something Elliott didn't miss about her flat in New Coventry.

Elliott climbed into her car and started the engine, wondering how much Reese would hate this Hunt Oakley kid. Probably a lot. She scolded herself as she checked for traffic - she was just being petty, Cole seemed nice enough. And unless she wanted to make her life awkward she would have to play nice anyway.

* * *

Courtney was hovering by the photocopier room when Elliott arrived. The older woman looked harassed, but it was a look that she almost constantly harboured. Normally it just meant that she hadn't had a cigarette in the last half hour or so. She spotted Elliott walking up the corridor and abruptly abandoned her hovering and hurried towards her, her dark eyes wide.

'Crap! _You're_ here!' she hissed, seizing a bewildered Elliott by her elbows. 'In there. _Now_.'

Elliott blinked as she was turned around and marched towards the storage closet. 'Courtney!' she cried. 'What the hell are you doing?' She looked at the storage closet in confusion. 'I'm not going in there!'

Courtney reached past her and opened the door. 'You'll do just as a say, sweetness. Now quit being such a fairy and get inside that closet. If I have to knock you unconscious and bundle you in there myself then you know I'm more than capable of doing it.' She shoved Elliott towards the open door but Elliott but her hands against the door frame. 'Don't make this difficult, Ellie.' Courtney growled. 'I've already gotten rid of three other girls this way.'

'What the hell has gotten into you?' Elliott frowned, pulling from Courtney's grasp and moving away from the closet door. 'You're acting like a crazy person!'

'Well a lot of people have told me I am,' Courtney replied, blowing a brown curl out of her face. 'Including my therapist. But that's not the point here. The point is that you're younger than me and you have a nicer ass.'

Elliott blinked at her. She was used to Courtney's peculiar, erratic behaviour more than anyone, but this was even confusing to Elliott. 'You had gin for your breakfast again, didn't you?'

Courtney sighed heavily. 'There's a new guy.' she told her. 'He's taking over Mr Braun's old office.'

'Mr Braun has left?' Elliott asked, raising an eyebrow.

'Shut up and let me tell you why I want you gone!' Courtney scowled viciously. 'Anyway, new guy is hot guy. _Really_ hot guy. And he gets to pick his receptionist. And I'm _trying_ to make sure that I'm the only receptionist he sees today. But if he comes out of that photocopying room and sees that pert ass of yours he's going to want you as his receptionist, isn't he?'

Elliott thought about it for a moment. 'But I'm already Mrs Young's receptionist.' she pointed out. Mrs Young was strict and rude, but compared to some of the others in the office she was a pussycat.

Courtney snorted. 'That doesn't matter. This guy is red hot. Total big-shot. The office practically forced early retirement on Mr Braun to make the space.'

Elliott frowned. She had always liked Mr Braun. 'Well it sounds like this guy is a complete bastard.'

'Oh you would say that.' Courtney spat, then paused. 'Oh… then you won't mind if I keep him! Get in the closet.'

Elliott sighed and shrugged. 'Fine. But if I do this you've got to buy me a drink after work.'

'I'll buy you a million if I get to be his receptionist.' Courtney said, pushing her towards the closet. 'My God, he's the sexiest lawyer I've ever seen in my whole life.'

Elliott turned and frowned at her. 'Wait a minute… lawyer?'

Courtney looked at her quizzically, but before she had a chance to say anything else, the door to the photocopying room opened and someone stepped out. Elliott and Courtney looked around, and Elliott found herself not particularly surprised to see Cole Oakley looking back at them. His strange eyes flicked between them for a moment before he lowered the papers and approached, smiling lopsidedly at Elliott.

'Elliott,' he acknowledged. 'If I'd known we were heading to the same place then I would have hitched a lift. Although I think I've proven that it's quicker to get here on foot rather than in the car.'

She managed half a smile. 'Cole,' she replied, ignoring the daggers she was receiving from Courtney. Words escaped her for a moment, so she lamely came up with; 'What a surprise.'

'So I take it you're a receptionist here then,' Cole's smile seemed to brighten a little. 'I was just on the lookout for one.'

With a muttered curse, Courtney turned and stalked away up the corridor, leaving Elliott and Cole in the corridor. Elliott looked warily at the handsome lawyer, and then managed a wan smile. 'What are the chances, huh?' she answered, laughing nervously.

For some reason she wasn't entirely sure of, she just knew that this was going to be nothing but trouble.


	9. You Scratch My Back

**A/N:** Sorry the chapter isn't that long, but I thought I better update xD Lol my reaquaintance with MSN kind of took over my writing time a bit xD

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**You Scratch My Back**

Reese stepped through the door of the Chemistry classroom and instantly screwed up his nose. He had to put a hand to his mouth and blink a couple of times to get over the churning sensation in his stomach due to the rancid smell inside. There was a chemistry set on every desk, most of them with Bunsen burners already turned on beneath tumblers containing unidentifiable liquids. The vapours that rose from the tumblers filled the classroom, and were probably the reason behind the glassy look in the eyes of the elderly teacher behind the desk.

'Um, sir?' Reese coughed, moving to the desk. 'Can I open a window?'

The teacher looked up at him and blinked, eyes small and beady behind his glasses. His face was deeply lined and he only had two tufts of grey hair on either side of his head. 'Open a window?' he asked, bewildered. 'Why who are you? Why do you want my windows open?'

'Um…' Reese paused and eyed the elderly teacher. His confusion was probably not only due to the vapours, but Alzheimer's also. 'I'm in this class and I don't think I'll be able to stay conscious throughout the lesson if a window isn't opened.'

The teacher blinked at him and drifted off into thought. 'Lesson…?' he murmured. There was a moment when the old man looked like he was never going to return from his catatonia, but then he stood up and clapped his hands. 'Oh, of course! Yes, yes. Open all the windows you like. Take a seat! And for God's sake don't eat anything.'

Reese nodded and then made his way over to a lab bench by the high windows. The glass was covered in a thin greenish film that was tacky beneath his fingers, but he slid the window open anyway. Fresh air rushed in and the flame on his chemistry set flickered excitedly. He sat down and glanced around, wondering when the last time the window was opened in this room. No wonder the teacher looked so spaced out, he was probably high as a kite from all the fumes.

'Who are you anyway?' the teacher enquired, eyeing Reese thoughtfully. 'You do seem familiar…'

'Reese Nixon.' Reese replied.

'Nixon…' the teacher searched his memory but came up with a blank. 'I'm sure I'll remember it later. I'm Dr Watts. I hope you're not one of these children who like to set fire to your shoes. I taught a child last year who did it every lesson without fail. Blaine Gray I think he's called…'

Reese smirked. He could imagine an idiot like Blaine doing something like that. He turned his attention to the window to end the conversation. He didn't want to be sitting having a nice little chat with the teacher when the other kids came in.

Surely enough about thirty seconds later the door opened and in walked the first students. Reese grimaced. Preps.

It was Darcy Harrington who sauntered in first. At least he thought it was Darcy – she was the one with the long blonde hair. Flanking her was a handsome young prep in pristine Aquaberry and smart dark hair. He laughed pompously at something the taller girl had said and followed her to the lab bench in front of Reese. They both sat down, not even registering his presence and carried on chatting. Reese tuned out, not wanting his brain to be melted by the inane conversation about the new stock of brown leather loafers that the store in the Vale had just gotten in and watched the rest of the students filing in.

Lara Romano and TJ Spinelli walked in next. Lara, as always, was closely examining her fingernails. They moved to the lab bench at the far end of the front row and sat down. TJ said something quietly to her, but she only looked harder at her fingernails. Eventually TJ gave up trying to make conversation and looked around in boredom. Reese watched them for a moment. It certainly looked like a baby-sitter set up to him. Dante probably had TJ watching Lara twenty-four seven to make sure no one tried anything with her.

Uninterested by the rest of the students, Reese turned his attention to the window. There weren't many other students outside; although he did see Joshua sprinting by with two Prefects hot on his tail. Apart from him there was no one, although Reese refused to believe they were all in class.

'Oh, Darcy,' the Prep said in a cooing voice. 'It appears we're seated in front of the new boy.'

Reese glanced up. The handsome Prep blinked his dark, thick eyelashes at him and smiled. Then he held out a hand. 'I'm Pierce. Pierce Vendome. My older brother owns quite a large stock in Aquaberry. You may have heard of him; Gord Vendome? Ring any bells?'

Reese said nothing, and just stared in boredom at the Prep.

The Harrington Twin turned sideways in her chair and leaned one smooth flawless arm on Reese's desk. She looked at him curiously with bright blue eyes and her full pink lips curled up into half a smile. Her long, poker straight blonde hair stopped halfway down her back and was kept off her face with a thin, light blue hair band. She had small crystal studs in her earlobes and a matching crystal nestled on her chest, tied around her neck with a thin silver chain.

'New boy,' she smirked, eyeing him. She let out a quiet, slightly disapproving snort. 'They'll let anyone in these days, won't they Pierce?'

'That they will, Darcy,' Pierce nodded, regarding Reese in a similar way, although his smirk seemed a little less derogatory and a little more… flirty? Reese sure hoped that it wasn't flirty. 'That they will.'

Reese just looked at them both passively, ghost of a smile playing on his lips. All the surrounding students were chatting amongst themselves as it seemed that Dr Watts had fallen asleep at his desk.

Darcy turned a little more in her seat and narrowed one eye. 'Hold on a moment… you're that little thug who punched Chuck Wiles in the auditorium this morning, aren't you?'

Pierce tilted his head. 'It is? I thought it was one of those moronic bullies?'

'You're Reese Smith, aren't you?' Darcy asked, eyes lighting up. 'Oh you _are_. Everyone is talking about you.'

'Actually, it's Reese Nixon.' Reese corrected her. 'I kind of prefer that name.'

Darcy nodded. 'I totally understand. When my father nearly got arrested for that whole rent-boy-in-the-trunk situation I totally didn't want to be a Harrington. But it's a good job Derby got into congress. He just made that little mess just slip away.'

'How is Derby by the way?' Pierce asked, turning back to Darcy.

'Oh he's fine,' Darcy waved a hand dismissively. 'Although he's been away with Bif for a few days on some kind of business getaway thing. Pinky isn't very happy about it though. She's been left at home with the nanny and the kids. She says Derby is going away nearly every weekend on these business getaways with Bif…'

'Sounds like they're having more than business meetings.' Reese interrupted.

Darcy and Pierce turned and looked at him. After a moment Darcy leaned towards him. 'Is it true that your dad tried to _murder_ Crabblesnitch?'

'Probably not,' Reese shrugged. 'From what I gathered he wasn't a very hands on kind of guy.'

Darcy half smiled. 'You're going to be in big trouble with the Jocks you know.' She told him. 'Unless you find someone to put in a good word for you.'

Reese leaned back, sensing some kind of deal in the air. 'Is that right?'

Darcy reached into her small handbag and pulled out a little mirror. She opened it, checking her smooth face. 'Oh yes,' she said airily. 'They're all just big ruffians really. If they get their hands on you I think they'll probably make one hell of a mess.'

Pierce was frowning slightly at her. 'Darcy,' he almost whispered. 'What are you…?'

She shot him a look over her mirror that silenced him, and then she clicked the mirror shut and turned back to Reese. She tilted her head and smiled coyly. 'I could always say something for you,' she said. 'After all, it's no secret that Chuck Wiles is madly in love with me.'

Reese smirked. 'I got the impression that he was into people with more chest hair.'

Darcy grinned. 'I like you. You're one of those _fun_ poor kids.' She glanced to Pierce. 'Do you know what I mean?'

Pierce shrugged, drawing a blank.

'Oh I know what I mean,' Darcy said. 'That's all that matters really.'

Reese was quickly growing bored. He shifted irritably in his seat. 'What do you want off me then? Obviously you want something before you say something to Chuck.'

Darcy grinned. 'Ooh, he's quick.' She nudged Pierce. 'You like quick, don't you, Pierce?'

Pierce blushed visibly. 'Darcy I really don't think that's appropriate…'

'You're right,' Darcy said, amused smile vanishing abruptly. 'I do want something. I want you to do something for me. If you agree to do it then I can have the Jocks off your back in a flash.'

Reese eyed her thoughtfully. 'What then?'

Darcy snorted. 'Well I can't very well tell you here, can I? You never know who is listening.'

Reese glanced around, eyebrow raised. Dr Watts was dozing, everyone else looked like they would soon be following suit. It was obvious no one cared in the slightest what Darcy was saying. 'Alright,' Reese sighed. 'I guess you'll want to meet later then.'

Darcy nodded. 'You're friends with that little pervert Tommy Jackson, aren't you?'

'I guess, yeah.' Reese replied.

'You'll probably want to bring him with you. It's a two man job.' She flicked her long hair back, making a point of sticking her chest out. Reese looked but didn't really feel anything. To him, Darcy Harrington was practically the same as a plastic mannequin. Under those expensive clothes of hers she was probably featureless. 'I want you to meet me on the top floor on the library - only the Nerds will be there and they're not stupid enough to stick their nose in my business. And don't tell anyone that you're coming to meet me. Don't even tell Tommy. If people find out that I'm talking to you then it might make some of the other kids think it gives them a right to come up to me, and if I'm honest mingling with them makes me feel a little nauseous.'

Reese narrowed one eye suspiciously. 'No offence, Darcy, but I don't think I trust you that much.'

Darcy smirked. 'Well I'll leave it up to you. If you're not in the library at six thirty on the dot I'll assume you're going to deal with the Jocks on your own.' She looked him up and down. 'Pleasure doing business with you, Reese Nixon.'

With that, she turned away. Pierce continued to look at him thoughtfully for a moment before following suit. Dr Watts finally rose from his seat and gathered up a pile of papers to hand out, but Reese had lost any interest he may have had in Chemistry and looked out of the window.


	10. Job Opportunities

**A/N: I've just realised how frigging OC heavy this has gotten. The only original Bully character so far is Gary, and he hasn't even had much time xD Don't worry though, when the reunion comes around there'll be plenty of familiar faces lol.

* * *

**

**Chapter Ten**

**Job Opportunities**

Elliott let out a huffy sigh as she packed up the little cardboard box on her desk. She hadn't realised she had so much crap; stupid glittery paper weights, a seemingly never ending stream of pens, a ridiculous little bonsai tree thing that some fruitcake thought looked nice in her office. The box was practically full even before she had gotten to clearing out the drawers. This had been Elliott's desk for nearly three years and she was nicely wedged into it. The seat was just the right height and she had just finally gotten her keyboard into a position where it was really genuinely comfortable. This was _her_ desk. _Her_ reception. And now she was getting tipped out and pushed in a brand new, freshly fitted office with big stupid leather chairs and desks so shiny you could see your face in them. Elliott didn't want to look at her face at every minute of the day. Mainly because she knew it would be as miserable as hell.

It was stupid really; Elliott didn't have to take the job. She could have easily told Cole Oakley that she was perfectly happy working for Mrs Young and there were plenty of other receptionists that were much better than her, but lawyers have this strange way of getting you to agree to things without you realising you've even done it. Then when you do magically agree, despite your brain doing backward rolls and furiously demanding why the rest of you isn't doing what it wants you to, the lawyer just acts to damn happy that you couldn't possibly turn around and say that you weren't interested.

So Elliott was not only bitter at being shipped out of her perfectly fine office, but she was angry with herself for being such a damn coward. God she couldn't wait to go home today.

'Huh. Well I would offer to help you move, but I'm afraid if I pick that box up I'll throw it out of the window or something.'

Elliott rolled her eyes and leaned against the desk in exasperation before settling a disgruntled stare on Courtney. 'I don't want to move.' She grumbled.

'Too late now,' Courtney replied, eyeing her fingernails. She leaned in the doorway, one hand resting on her hip. 'I told you that you should have just gotten straight in the closet. But no, always like you to have to ask too many questions. But it doesn't matter, I suppose. He probably wouldn't have picked me anyway. Plus office romances are strictly forbidden, so if I can get transferred to another department I'd probably have a better job of bagging him anyway.'

Elliott raised an eyebrow. 'You would get transferred just so you could go on a date with him?'

Courtney frowned in bewilderment. 'Who said anything about dates? Oh no, I just want to get him to my place so I can screw his-'

Elliott snorted and tossed a stapler that probably didn't belong to her into the box. 'Yeah, I get it. Thanks for that.'

Courtney moved into the room, looking around. 'So who's the unlucky bastard who gets this depressing hellhole?'

'Brenda.' Elliott sighed.

'Oh,' Courtney frowned. 'Brenda's not gonna be happy.'

'Yeah, well if she's got a problem with that then tell her to take it to frigging _Cole Oakley_. Christ I don't think anyone has ever been able to annoy me so much in such a small amount of time. I only met him this morning for God's sake!' She picked up the box and stomped towards the door, slipping awkwardly past Courtney. 'I hate this stupid job...' she muttered. 'I'm not even supposed to be here today...'

Courtney followed her up the corridor. 'Oh well aren't we having a big sulk today? I don't see why you're so wound up, you're getting a better office.'

'I don't care.' Elliott grumbled. She blew some stray hairs from her face with a snort and shook her head slightly. 'I'm totally not in the mood for this crap. I was up half the night with a frigging unconscious guy in my back garden.'

'Ah,' Courtney nodded knowingly. 'The accountant.'

Elliott glanced to the older woman in surprise. 'You know him?'

'Oh yeah,' Courtney nodded. 'He drinks the bar I go to. He's an alright guy, actually. Apart from the sleeping in the trash thing. Which I totally don't get 'cos he has a real nice house. It must just be a kink.'

Elliott ran this piece of information over in her head for a moment, and then decided she couldn't be bothered to get into the debate. 'Haven't you got work to be doing or something?' she frowned, approaching her new office door.

'Yeah.' Courtney shrugged. She made no attempt to head away and do it. She continued to follow Elliott down the corridor, peering into the box in her arms. 'That plant's not going to go in that office.'

'You've sharp changed your tune,' Elliott shot. 'A minute ago you were threatening to throw me out of the window.'

'I was threatening to throw the _box_ out of the window. There's a difference.' Courtney paused, eyeing her thoughtfully. Suddenly something occurred to her and she smiled sympathetically. 'Ah, so _that's_ it.' she nodded.

Elliott glanced at her in bewilderment. 'What?'

'I thought you were being too whiney over getting a new office,' Courtney smirked. 'You're not in a piss because you've got to change offices, it's because you've still got _him_ on the brain.'

Elliott fought the inevitable flush in her cheeks. 'Oh shut up, Courtney.'

'I don't get you kids,' Courtney sighed. 'You flit about with your bouncy hair and your equally bouncy assets and keep prodding each other in the loins but if anyone so much as mentions the idea of making a _real_ move everyone gets all '_shut uuup_'. It's sad, really.'

Elliott frowned as she pushed open the door to her new office with her hip. 'You don't know what you're talking about Courtney.' she sighed. 'Now if you don't mind I'd like to get my new office sorted out.'

'Just get it over with, Elliott!' Courtney sighed. 'When you get home call him. Invite him over, and then make sure you've got your best panties on.'

Elliott stepped through the doorway, cheeks flushed. 'You're such an ass, Courtney.' she muttered. 'I'll catch up with you later. When you're _not_ being such a frigging pain.'

Courtney frowned, wounded, and tried to follow her in the room. 'But you know I'm right, Elliott! All you need is a good all-nighter!'

Elliott closed the door with her foot, teeth gritted. With a disgruntled expression that could probably make small children cry, she turned to get her first good look at her new office. What she didn't expect was to find Cole standing right behind her. She let out a startled cry and felt her grip loosening on the box, but seeing a repeat of that morning; Cole reached out and grabbed the box. They both gripped onto it for a moment, before Elliott took it back in embarrassment.

'You're a jumpy one, aren't you?' he smirked.

Elliott forced a smile and walked around him to a grand, glossy oak desk by the window, hoping that he hadn't heard the conversation between her and Courtney. There was a brand new PC sitting there, electrical leads still in plastic wrapping. The chair looked like it had been bought from the Evil Villains Expo or something, with a huge back and soft gleaming leather. The whole place was pretty smartly decorated – a far cry from her old office. Looking at it made Elliott wonder how she hadn't known about Cole's arrival earlier. She couldn't remember noticing anyone shifting all this furniture up here. Unless they had done it while she was on vacation. Which she was still technically on.

'So what do you think?' Cole asked, remaining by the door. 'You think you'll settle in okay?'

Elliott eyed the desk and set the box down. Suddenly everything inside looked like complete trash. Courtney was right; the plant wasn't going to go in this room. 'It's nice,' she replied. 'It's pretty… fancy. If you don't mind me saying.'

'Well I believe the reception is the most important part.' Cole smiled that lopsided smile and walked towards her, hands in his pockets. 'First impressions are the most important thing in this world, and if a potential client strolls into a reception with plastic chairs and beige walls and a boring as hell receptionist, they're probably not going to be all that impressed, are they?'

'Well you certainly haven't got cheap chairs.' Elliott joked lamely.

'I'm a pretty easy guy to work for,' he said, suddenly getting a little serious. 'I'm not one of these mentalists who demand giant panda kebabs for lunch or something ridiculous. In fact, all I really want for you is to answer the phones and make sure the mail goes out. Maybe retype the odd letter for me. Call a few clients. Nothing really that strenuous. I could probably do it all myself, but it wouldn't be very professional of me to not have a back up, y'know?'

'Of course.' Elliott replied.

Cole smiled broadly at her. It was a pure Hollywood smile - teeth like pearls. Elliott wondered how much he had paid for them. 'I'm a pretty good judge of character,' he went on. 'And I can tell already that we're going to get along just great.' He held out a hand to her. 'Here's to a great partnership, huh?'

Elliott hesitated. This was the last chance she had to back out. She wanted her old office back, with crazy Mrs Young who used to yell at her for using the wrong colour highlighters on documents that only ended up in the shredder anyway. But because Elliott was so much of a damn wuss, she only smiled weakly and shook his head.

'Thanks for taking me on.' she said automatically.

'You're very welcome.' Cole grinned, holding onto her hand for a little longer than she felt comfortable with. 'I think I should walk down the street with my eyes shut all the time if it means I bump into people like you.' He took his hand back and glanced at his watch. 'You'll have to excuse me, I have to make a few phonecalls. There's not much to do today because not everyone knows I'm back in town yet. But I assure you over the next few days it'll get busier. You'll be earning your jobs worth.' he chuckled, and then began to turn away.

'Um, actually, Mr Oakley-' Elliott started, holding a finger up.

He glanced to her, amused. 'It's Cole. Please. You only have to call me Mr Oakley when there are clients around.'

'Yeah, well… The thing is, technically I'm still on vacation. I'm supposed to be off for the next few days to finish getting my house arranged.'

Cole's bright smile dropped a little. 'Oh is that so? Oh…' He paused, considering this. 'Well it would be unfair for me to take your vacation away from you.' He crossed his arms, stroking the thin, light brown hair on his chin with one hand. 'The next few days, you say?'

Elliott shrugged and smiled. Maybe if she insisted on keeping her vacation then he might have no choice to get someone else. 'I practically had to rip my limbs off to get it.' she told him.

Cole was quiet for a moment, thumb stroking his short beard. His yellow-brown eyes seemed to focus and unfocus as he thought, and then they turned back to her. 'Well… how about this. If you work your vacation I'll stick a little more on your pay packet.'

Elliott blinked. 'Uh… what?'

'Let's say… an extra four dollars an hour. Sound fair? That would be permanent of course, not just for the couple of days.'

Elliott stared at him. 'Uh… what?'

'I took the liberty of asking about you while you were packing up in your office,' Cole went on, circling the desk and running his hand over the back of the large seat. 'I think the decision that you're the best receptionist is pretty much unanimous. And don't get me wrong, I'm sure everyone else could do a good enough job, but… well, I'm used to having the best.' He chuckled. 'So what do you say? The next couple of days are going to be pretty busy.'

Elliott glanced around the room. An extra four dollars an hour? That would be another one hundred and sixty dollars a week she would be getting. That was another six hundred and forty dollars a month. She would be an idiot to turn that down.

Then why the hell could she feel the word 'no' creeping up her throat?

'If you want to think about it that's fine,' Cole shrugged. 'You can let me know as soon as you've decided.' He paused, and then reached in his pocket. 'There's a million and one phone numbers on that card, but you'll only need the one on the back.'

Elliott took the card and turned it over, to see a handwritten cell phone number. She glanced back up at him. This was quickly turning into a _very_ weird day.

'Well I'll let you be,' Cole nodded. 'Like I said there's not much to do today, so I guess it would be okay if you just set up your office and head back home to enjoy the last of your vacation. Make sure you call me before seven though.' He smiled again and then headed through the door into his office, without waiting for a response.

Elliott looked at the card again. _Definitely_ a weird day.

* * *

By the time she had sorted her office it was ticking over past lunchtime. Courtney had disappeared from the building; probably off topping up her nicotine levels and having her lunchtime wine. Elliott didn't particularly want to see Courtney anyway, She couldn't be bothered with her weird attitude, and if she told her about the unexpected pay boost it would probably only spark the older woman into yet another long and boring rant about Elliott's youth working in her favour.

Considering that she would be a complete moron for turning Cole down on his job, Elliott figured she should go home and enjoy the last of her vacation. Early start tomorrow, so she might as well relax the rest of the day. Not that she would be able to do much anyway, as during the course of the day the heavens had decided to open and now rain was lashing down all over Bullworth. She felt a pang of joy at the thought of Cole Oakley trudging home in the pouring rain.

The roads were clear, so she was home in no less than five minutes. The further she got away from her workplace, the guiltier she felt about her negative thoughts towards Cole. After all she had only met him this morning; she wasn't really in any place to judge him. And he had been nothing but nice to her. He had given her a nice new office, not to mention the extra four dollars an hour. Fair enough it was weird that he would do so much when he hadn't even seen her work, but still…

Her thoughts were cut off as she approached her house and glanced to the front door. With a frown she pulled up to the curb and looked curiously at the person sitting on her porch, staring grimly out at the rain. At the sight of her car Gary rose to his feet, but wisely stayed where he was to prevent getting soaked.

What the hell was he doing here? Sitting on the porch in the pouring rain? Didn't he have work? Elliott killed the engine and gathered her belongings, before opening the door and preparing herself for the sprint through the rain. Her heels clicked noisily on the pavement as she jogged up the path, but it didn't really help as she was still soaked by the time she reached the porch.

'What are you doing here?' she asked, confused. Had she made plans with him and then forgotten? No, she never made plans with him. And anyway, he had seemed keen to leave of his own accord last night.

'I tried calling you,' he told her, scratching the back of his neck. He looked a little embarrassed actually. 'To see if that guy in the garden was any trouble. I um… tried a few times but you weren't answering, so I waited and tried again. Then I…' He paused, then chuckled. 'Then I guess I thought I would just come over and check for myself. You uh… might want to get someone to fix the lock on your back door.'

Elliott frowned and smiled at the same time as she unlocked the front door. 'You bust my back door?' she asked, amused.

Gary just shrugged. 'I'll pay for it.'

She laughed and went inside, dumping her handbag on the table by the door. 'Get inside,' she told him. 'It's frigging freezing out there.'

Gary lingered for a moment, hesitating, then followed her inside. 'I thought the guy had gone psycho and bust in here or something.'

'I thought you said he was harmless?'

'I did say that,' Gary smirked. 'But then again I say a lot of things.'

Elliott shot him a disapproving frown and took off her damp jacket, laying it over the banister. 'I'll remember that next time you try to tell me something is safe.' She sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her hair. 'I'm glad you're here actually. I've had the weirdest day.'

Gary raised his scarred eyebrow. 'How's that?'

Elliott led him into the kitchen, kicking her shoes off on the way. Gary seemed amused by her trail of outdoor garments but didn't mention it. 'Well I got called into work this morning to find this dumbass file that turned out to not even exist,' she sighed, moving to the counter to make two cups of coffee. Gary lingered by the doorway, leaning against the wall. 'And when I was going to get into my car this idiot knocked my bag out of my hands. My stuff went everywhere…'

'Did you punch him?' Gary smirked.

Elliott laughed. 'No. Although if I had done it might have saved me a lot of bother. Anyway he went on his way and I get to work, where Courtney tries to bundle me into a closet because I have a nicer ass than her.'

Gary half nodded. 'Good enough reason.'

'She's going on about this new guy who is apparently right up Courtney's alley and he's after a new receptionist. She seemed to think that he would want me over her.'

'At least she's not completely insane.' Gary nodded.

'Anyway, guess who this new guy is?'

Gary faked thought. 'Buddy Holly?'

'Nope.'

'Notorious BIG?'

'Close.'

'Elvis?'

Elliott laughed. 'Stop naming dead musicians.'

'Sorry.' Gary smirked. 'The purse spiller.'

'Spot on.' Elliott flicked on the kettle and turned around, leaning against the counter. 'He's this big shot lawyer and because we bumped into each other that morning he thinks it's fate or some shit and offers me the new receptionist job. But get _this_. Because he wants me to be there from tomorrow he said he would bump up my paycheque to an extra four dollars an _hour_. Can you believe that?'

Gary blinked, his eyebrows rising. 'Seriously?'

'Yeah,' Elliott nodded. 'So even though I really don't want to move, I'd be frigging dumb to turn that down.'

'Yeah you would,' Gary agreed. 'But it sounds a bit… well…' He stopped, eyeing Elliott's expression and deciding not to continue with whatever he was going to say. 'So is he some fat old perv? He probably just wants the prettiest receptionist.'

Elliott rolled her eyes. 'Flattery doesn't suit you, Gary,' she smirked. 'And he's not actually. He's this young guy. Not much older than us actually. His name's Cole Oakley.'

Gary's expression dropped immediately. '_Oakley_?' he repeated. 'Oh geez. Well that explains everything. The Oakley clan are the top lawyers around this area. An extra four dollars an hour is just small change to them.' Gary screwed up his nose and shook his head. 'Frigging Oakley's… I work with a guy who has the misfortune of rear-ending Rupert Oakley's Mercedes and the whole family ripped him to shreds. Took him for every penny. Bunch of piranhas they are.'

Elliott looked down thoughtfully. 'Yeah I had a feeling it would be like that.'

'So which one are you working for? Cole?' Gary searched his memory. 'Don't think I've met him. Bet he's just a slimy sleaze ball like the rest of them.'

Elliott thought about it. Cole wasn't necessarily slimy or sleazy - actually he was quite pleasant and charming. But she didn't think it would be a very good idea to say something like that, so instead she just shrugged and smiled. 'Pretty much.'

Gary snorted. 'Thought as much.'

Elliott watched him for a moment, head tilted. 'So are you still, um… going for that new job?'

'Yeah,' he nodded, avoiding eye contact with her. 'I'm not going to be making anywhere near the amount you are, Miss Moneybags, but it'll be better than what I'm on now.'

Elliott turned away and poured out the two coffees. 'Well I hope it goes well for you.' she said, quietly. She set the kettle down and stirred the cups, feeling a little sad. 'It's always nice to get a fresh start. And I don't blame you for getting the hell out of Bullworth. It's not like there's anything worth staying for anyway…' She stopped and glanced up as Gary reached around her and picked up one of the coffees. She hadn't even heard him approaching.

'It's not so bad.' he told her with a smile.

Elliott fought a blush and picked up her own coffee. 'Don't forget about the reunion though,' she reminded him. 'I'm not going to let you skip town until after then.'

Gary rolled his eyes in amusement. 'Oh man, you were serious about that?'

'Of course I was! Do you think I was just saying it?'

'Well you say a lot of things,' he chuckled. 'And not a lot of it makes sense at the best of times.'

'Cheeky,' Elliott laughed. 'You're coming whether you like it or not. I'll drag you kicking and screaming if I have to.'

'Make that a certainty and I'll definitely come.' Gary grinned.

Elliott laughed and shoved him playfully. Suddenly the thought of him leaving gave her a tight feeling in her chest. But it wouldn't be fair to ask him to stay. 'So um… what are you doing for the rest of the day?' The words poured out of her mouth before she had even thought of them.

Gary looked at her curiously over the rim of his coffee cup. 'Not a lot.' he told her. 'I've got the day off. Pulled a sickie so I could come over and check that you were still alive.'

'Well if you don't have to be anywhere you might as well stick around for dinner,' Elliott said, shrugging and keeping her eyes on her coffee cup. 'Because I feel like a loser sitting at that massive table and eating on my own.'

Gary's lack of response made her regret mentioning it. He was going to have another freak out like he did last night when she had invited him in and run off again. But when she looked up he was smiling. 'Sure,' he nodded. 'Last thing I'd want is to make you feel like a loser. Enough people do that already.'

Elliott laughed and narrowed her eyes at him. 'Don't push me, Smith,' she joked. 'I could take you on.'

He just chuckled and drank some more of his coffee. Elliott smiled back, deciding to forget that he was leaving for the time being.


	11. Today's Assignment

**A/N: This chapter actually took a lot of writing for some reason xD I've been working on it for bloody ages. Oh well, I hope you enjoy it xD

* * *

**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Today's Assignment**

Reese wasn't surprised when Darcy and Pierce sauntered out of the Chemistry class after the bell rang without even a slightest glance back at him. He remained in his seat, waiting for the others to pile out until he attempted to leave himself. Once the last kid had disappeared, Reese pushed himself up with a sigh and headed out, wondering how the hell he was going to get Tommy to come to the library with him for six. Tommy wouldn't come without a good reason, especially after the incident with Chuck Wiles. Although taking into account Tommy's unhealthy interest in Bullworth's female population he would probably run to the library if he knew they were going to meet Darcy.

But before all of that, Reese had to actually _find_ Tommy. He wasn't sure where the Bullies hung out yet, as so far he had only seen them around the dorm. He was pretty sure that wasn't the only place they hung out and if he wanted to get anything done fast in this place he would have to start learning the important spots on campus.

He headed up the corridor with his hands in his pockets, ignoring the curious stares from surrounding students as he went. News had spread fast on who he was and interest had only deepened in him after the scene in the auditorium that morning. Kids whispered and speculated, but none of them approached him. They probably thought he was some kind of psycho, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing if it meant they would leave him alone.

'Hey, Reese! Over here.'

Reese frowned vaguely, glancing around at the faintly familiar voice. Then his expression relaxed as he saw the strange red haired bully Nigel waving him over from beside a row of lockers. Reese nodded in acknowledgment and headed over, figuring that if Nigel was around here then Tommy wouldn't be too far.

'Hey,' Reese said as he reached him. 'How's it going?'

Nigel shrugged indifferently. 'Not bad, I guess. You just had your first class, huh?'

Reese nodded and then looked to see what Nigel was holding in his hand. He had to do a double take, because he was sure his eyes were playing tricks on him. But on the second glance the sight didn't change, so he just frowned in bewilderment. Nigel had hold of a transparent plastic baggie, which was currently half full of writhing, twisting, fat pink worms. Reese opened his mouth to ask what was with the worms, but Nigel spoke before him.

'You're a lucky guy, buddy,' he said, shaking his head and opening up the baggie. 'That was pretty impressive what you did to Chuck. You should have been thanking those Prefects for dragging you out like that 'cos those gorillas would have ripped you a new one.'

Reese shook his head. 'Those retards? I'm not scared of a bunch of steroid filled morons. They're all mouth.'

Nigel made a quite, amused sound but his grim expression didn't change. Thinking about it, Reese was pretty sure he hadn't seen Nigel smile at all. The red haired bully reached into the baggy and grabbed one of the thick worms between his thumb and forefinger. 'You got major respect from me though,' he said as he pulled the worm out and regarded it thoughtfully. 'I would love to punch that bastard right in his dish.' He turned to the locker beside him and carefully pushed the worm through one of the narrow slits in the top of the metal door. 'But that's not how I roll.'

Reese watched, intrigued. 'I noticed.' he replied. Nigel was certainly a weird one. He seemed to be a lot more patient than the others in his penchant for setting up pranks. Whereas the other bullies seemed to take joy out of outright attacking their victims, Nigel seemed to prefer to take a more diligent approach.

'Tommy's pretty pissed with you.' Nigel commented, reaching in the bag for another worm. 'He doesn't like things getting messed up, y'see.' He frowned before adding defensively; 'He's not a pussy or anything, he just knows the way things work, you know? There are the guys you can mess with and the guys you can't mess with. It works out pretty good for everyone.' He slotted the writhing worm through the gap in the locker door. 'At least that's what Tommy says.'

'You don't agree?' Reese asked, watching him as he rolled up the bag.

'I don't care.' Nigel shrugged. 'I get my kicks and I don't get my ass kicked. Frankly I couldn't give a shit what goes on in this dump. Although I know you're heading for a major ass kicking if you run into those Jocks again. Tommy likes you so he'll probably try to help, but if I'm honest I haven't given you much thought so I don't think I'd get my ass kicked for you. No offence.'

'None taken.' Reese replied, eyeing Nigel. He was still wearing cut-off jean shorts and sandals, only today instead of the Bullworth hooded sweater, he wore a dark blue polo neck. 'So you know where Tommy is?'

'Nope.' Nigel replied, pushing the rolled up bag of worms down the front of his shorts. 'But it's end of classes so he'll be out tormenting someone. Probably with Blaine. They do the rounds about this time, then Joshua and Kingsly take over.'

'What about you?'

'I don't follow the social order,' Nigel replied, catching sight of something over Reese's shoulder. 'Get's boring.' Without another word he turned and moved away from the locker. Reese followed him automatically, not looking around.

'You didn't stick many worms in there,' Reese pointed out, following him to the far side of the hall. 'The kid probably won't even notice them.'

'Oh she'll notice,' Nigel told him, sounding incredibly bored. He gently patted the front of his shorts where the remaining worms were kept. 'This was my third bag.'

Reese cocked an eyebrow and looked around at the now infested locker. Nigel had stopped and was leaning against the wall by the fire extinguisher, chewing his fingernail and watching the locker with a look like he would rather be anywhere else in the world. For a guy who put so much thought into things he didn't seem to look very interested in how they came out.

Reese smirked as he saw the red-haired cheerleader strutting towards the locker. Ashley, he thought her name was. She was hot; skinny little waist, slightly curvy hips and a nice healthy sized pair on her chest. Her hair was lying loosely around her pale, freckled shoulders and bobbed as she went. Her cheerleading skirt was just a little too short and the line of her sports pants were just visible beneath it. She wasn't really Reese's type - a bit too slutty for him - but he certainly wouldn't turn it down if the opportunity arose.

Ashley stopped at the worm-ridden locker, oblivious to its contents. She put in her combination, flicked her hair over her shoulder, and then pulled open the door. For a moment she didn't even notice - she just reached inside to get whatever it was she had been after, but then she suddenly went rigid. Slowly she looked down. Thick, wriggling worms had flooded out the bottom of her locker and had pooled around her feet, twisting and writhing over her low-topped sneakers and prodding inquisitively at her bare ankles. She took a step back, hands rising up by the sides of her head. Her left foot squashed five of the fattest worms and she slipped a little. This sensation must have been the trigger to release her from shock, because a second later and she was screaming.

At the sound of her shrill, ear-piercing shriek, Reese laughed loudly. She stumbled back, only managing to squash more of the creatures and slammed into the far row of lockers. The worms were slowly making their way across the dirt streaked floor, searching for familiar ground but finding none. Ashley kicked her feet hysterically, sending a few clingers-on flying across the hallway. Still wailing, the hysterical cheerleader turned and fled up the hallway, feet skidding on the squashed worms that stuck to the bottoms of her sneakers. Her screams echoed around the school as she fled in terror.

'That was awesome.' Reese laughed, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes. 'It was… Man… you're screwed up.'

Nigel shrugged, his expression hadn't changed at all. 'Passes the time.' He replied. He frowned slightly, then wriggled and shifted uncomfortably. 'Look, Tommy said he didn't really want to see you, but I think he's just being sulky. He's in his dorm.' He shifted again, this time his hand going to the front of his shorts. 'Oh man, I think some of them have gotten out.' He said this like it was simply just an inconvenience, and not something gross. 'I'll catch you later, Reese.'

With that Nigel turned and headed away, both hands on the front of his shorts and he walked with his legs apart. Reese watched after him, deciding that he really quite liked Nigel McCormick and his weird ways, before turning and heading for the boy's dorm. On the way he would think of something to get Tommy to go with him to the library. At least he hoped so.

* * *

Reese left it until about five thirty before going to find Tommy. Mainly because he didn't fancy spending the whole afternoon with him because he would probably do nothing but complain about the Jocks. Reese had too much to think about without having to listen to whining.

Tommy's room was on the left hand side of the boy's dorm; practically the furthest possible room from Reese's. Reese would have been quite happy with that room actually - he was pretty sure Tommy wouldn't be able to hear the riotous Greasers that hung around out the front of the dorm at night, or the chattery, RPG obsessed Nerds in the common room at all hours. Reese's room was right on the corner, and the damn door never seemed to stay shut. He aimed to have a look at the hinges at some point. When he wasn't so preoccupied.

The dorm appeared to be deserted, so Reese headed straight for Tommy's room with his hands in his pockets and his head lowered. He wasn't sure how he was going to get Tommy to come without telling him the whole story. Nigel had said Tommy didn't even want to see him, so who was to say he would even _listen_?

Reese shrugged. Tommy wasn't the kind to just stop talking to you over something. At least he never used to be. He would probably just sulk for an hour or so, then everything would be right back as it used to be. He raised a fist to knock, but decided against it and wrapped his hand around the handle and shoved open the door.

Within seconds, Reese wished he had knocked. Thankfully Tommy had his back to the door, but it was still pretty obvious what he was doing. He was sat on one of the many flimsy wooden chairs that scattered the dorm with one foot up on his desk, a magazine in one hand and his other hand down his pants. On the desk sat a box of tissues and a tub of hand cream.

'_Dude_!' Reese cried, horrified.

Tommy looked around sharply, eyebrows shooting up. Then he quickly scowled, tossing the nude magazine down to the floor. 'Dude!' he yelled back in return. 'What the hell? Don't you fucking knock?' He struggled up, fastening up the front of his pants.

Reese turned away, poking his head out into the corridor. The place was still deserted. He turned around again, this time pleased to see that Tommy was all tucked away and was frantically tossing the tissues in a drawer. 'Man, I'm starting to think you've got a problem,' Reese smirked, shaking his head. 'It's the middle of the damn afternoon.'

Tommy was scowling, colour high on his cheeks. 'Well what the hell else is there to do? If I'm not beatin' on some kid I guess I can only frigging beat myself.' He sighed and shook his head, snatching up the magazine from the floor and stalking towards the book shelf. 'Man, you got to learn how to knock…'

Reese chuckled to himself. Tommy wasn't embarrassed at being caught - it was pretty hard to embarrass someone like Tommy Jackson - he was probably more pissed off at being interrupted. The curly haired bully squatted by the bookshelf, pulling out a large chemistry book. He opened it up to reveal no pages - just reams and reams of porn magazines.

'What the hell do you want anyway?' Tommy grumbled, deciding to take the time to rearrange his collection. 'I'm still pretty pissed with you.'

'Yeah I got that,' Reese nodded, approaching the drawer where Tommy had stuffed the tissues and the hand cream. It had been left open a little. 'I need a favour anyway. I need you to come to the library in about half an hour.'

Tommy snorted. 'What, you arranged some big ass fight with the Jocks there or something?'

Out of curiosity, Reese pulled the drawer open a little, frowning at the sight of a few dog eared photographs and fabric.

'I'm not ready to get myself publicly hung drawn and quartered for you, Reese. Yeah, you're a pal and all that, but I like my face, and if I cross those Jocks again I'll be forever staring at the inside of my own ass…' He looked over his shoulder, and spotted Reese reaching into the drawer. 'Whoa, Reese, you don't want to look in there…!' He leapt to his feet, but he was too slow.

Reese held up the black bra and cocked his head at it, then looked at Tommy questioningly. Tommy shrugged weakly and let out a kind of whimpering chuckle.

'It's only natural.' he said in defence.

Reese narrowed his eyes and reached into the drawer again, this time pulling out a couple of the photographs. Tommy started forward again.

'Reese man, you _really_ shouldn't look at that…' he started.

'Tommy!' Reese cried, dropping the bra and staring at the photos. 'This is my mom!' He blinked at the pictures of Elliott, most of them just the odd one of her sitting and smiling, the same kind of photos that disappeared from the photo albums one day.

'Look, that's not what it looks like,' Tommy said quickly, holding both his hands up. 'It's just… I had those because… Um…' He paused, desperately searching for an excuse to why he had photographs of his friend's mother. 'Um… she gave them to me.'

'You frigging pervert!' Reese bellowed, whirling around.

'No way, man!' Tommy cried, backing away. 'I swear it's not like that…'

'You've got pictures of my mom right next to your freakin' self-love kit, Tommy!' Reese cried. 'I can't see any other reason why they would be there!'

Tommy just winced and rubbed the back of his neck. 'Well… you know I always thought your mom was hot, Reese.'

Reese felt his jaw clench. He wanted nothing more than to punch Tommy right in the middle of his face, but rationality stepped in. As much as he was pissed off about this revelation, he still needed Tommy to come with him to see Darcy. If he played on this he could definitely get him to come.

Reese stuffed the photos in his pocket. 'I'm taking these.' he informed him.

Tommy's shoulders slumped. 'Yeah, yeah.' he sighed. 'I figured.'

Reese rolled his eyes. 'You're a dirty little pervert, Tommy. I should beat the shit out of you.'

Tommy snorted. 'Like you could.' he muttered, but his heart wasn't in it. He pushed his hands in his pockets and kicked at something on the floor.

'Okay,' Reese sighed. 'I'll forget about this if you come to the library with me.'

Tommy glanced up at him sceptically. 'Why? What's at the library?'

'No questions. I can either beat you senseless or we can go to the library. What do you say?'

Tommy said nothing for a moment, but then he sighed and rolled his eyes. 'Well I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I? I don't want to have to hurt you or anything while you _attempt_ to kick my ass.'

Reese nodded, still feeling a little angry from the discovery, but deciding to keep it hidden for now. 'Well come on then. Best if we get there early.'

Tommy just snorted irritably and shuffled towards the door, still with his head lowered and his hands in his pockets. Reese followed, refraining the urge to kick him in the back of his leg. He would give him a good hiding later for those pictures. For now though, he had to find out what Darcy wanted.

* * *

Reese walked ahead, still seething from the discovery in Tommy's drawer. Wisely Tommy kept quiet and followed with his head down. They reached the library steps and moved up, attracting curious glances from the group of Nerds by the door. Reese knew he wasn't a threat to them, but Tommy was. At the sight of the bully the Nerds split, running off in different directions and leaving the doors unblocked. Tommy just snorted in amusement but made no effort to chase after them.

'I hate this place,' he grunted as they moved towards the building. 'It stinks.'

'You should come to the library more often, Tommy,' Reese replied, pulling open the door and moving inside. 'You might learn something other than what virgin country girls get up to when their pop's are out in the fields.'

'Huh, whatever Reese,' Tommy replied, sounding bored. 'At least I'm not some gay. At least I'm not looking at a bunch of gay magazines.'

'I wouldn't be surprised if you're just covering.' Reese replied airily. 'Come on. Up the stairs.'

Tommy followed, looking around the library like it was a different world. The few students who looked up from their studies stared incredulously at him. It was practically unheard of for a bully to step foot in the library. It was like throwing a fox in a chicken coop. A couple of kids even got up and left at the sight of him.

'I take it we're meeting someone here,' Tommy speculated, following Reese up the stairs. 'I don't see why you don't just tell me who the hell it is.'

Reese said nothing and emerged on the second floor. He glanced around, but the place was deserted. Tommy stood beside him and sighed impatiently. Checking his watch, Reese frowned vaguely. 'Well it is only ten minutes to.' he shrugged.

'Well I'm not hanging around in here,' Tommy sulked. 'The place gives me the creeps. And anyway, I've only got a couple of hours until curfew. I got a whole group of kids I'm supposed to be tormenting tonight. If I don't show they'll think I've gone soft. Give it a couple of weeks and the Nerds will be running wild.'

'Ooh, early birds! Nice to see you're keen. You like keen, don't you Pierce?'

Reese and Tommy looked around to see Darcy emerging from the study area, Pierce close behind. At the sight of the two Preppies, Tommy groaned loudly. His shoulders slumped and his knees weakened with the exaggerated exasperation.

'Oh man, _Preps_?' he whined. 'You've brought me here to meet _Preps_?'

'We're here, Darcy,' Reese said, folding his arms. 'What did you want us to do?'

'Want us to do?' Tommy frowned. 'I'm not doing anything for those stuck up trust fund babies.' He turned to Darcy and jabbed a finger in her direction. 'Hear that, princess? I'm not doing nothing for your lot.'

Darcy smiled sweetly at him, putting her hands behind her back and flicking her hair back with a jerk of her head. 'Hey Tommy.' she flirted.

That was like a missile in Tommy's Achilles heel. His hand dropped and his eyes went a little dewy. Then he folded his arms and shrugged a little. 'I guess I could hang for a minute…'

'Great,' Darcy grinned, placing both hands on her hips. 'Right, well I think it would be best if we got straight to the point. Pierce and I need to get ready for tonight.'

Reese cocked an eyebrow. 'You two are dating?'

Darcy waved a dismissive hand. 'Oh no, it's just a set up. We're not dating. We just tell people we are so we can go and do our own things without questions. Isn't that right, Pierce?'

Pierce nodded. 'That's right. Some people like to judge by our life choices, isn't that right Darcy?'

'Sure is, Pierce.' Darcy agreed.

Reese felt sick looking at the two Preps. Tommy, on the other hand, looked perfectly happy to be looking at Darcy. 'Okay then, what do you want us to do? You will get Chuck Wiles to back down, won't you?'

'Oh sure,' Darcy nodded, moving towards them. 'That won't take any effort at all, will it Pierce?'

'Not a smidgen, Darcy.' Pierce replied.

'No, you're side of the deal is the hard part,' Darcy grinned. 'You see… I want a date tonight.'

Reese frowned. Tommy made a bewildered yelp. 'With Reese?' he cried.

'Of course not,' Pierce snapped. 'How disgusting.'

'No, I want to go on a date with my wonderful lover…' Darcy sighed airily and clasped her hands by her cheeks. 'My beautiful, strapping man. We haven't been together for so long… whenever I see him I just ache inside. I need to see him…'

Reese shrugged. 'Okay, well why don't you just go tell him yourself?'

Darcy laughed. 'Oh no. That's no possible. You see, my beautiful man is Joey. I couldn't be seen dead with those scumbags. And anyway, if Dante finds out then Joey will be in huge trouble. As will I if my bitch of a sister ever finds out…'

'You're dating Joey Rizzo?' Tommy asked, astounded. 'Geez… but I thought you guys hated each other!'

'I know!' Darcy sighed. 'Our love is a forbidden one. We're starcrossed, Joey and I. Two cliques, one without any dignity, in fair Bullworth where we lay our scene…'

'Okay, hold on there Juliet,' Reese frowned, raising a hand. 'You're telling me you want us to tell Joey to meet you somewhere, right?'

'At the old picture house in Bullworth Town.' Darcy nodded. 'At nine tonight. Nine _sharp_. I don't like being left waiting.'

Reese blinked. 'Okay… so why the hell did I have to bring Tommy along? Surely I could just go Joey and tell him…'

'It's not that simple, dude.' Tommy shook his head. 'The Greasers hate everyone. You can't just wander up to the second in command and ask to have a word with him. And plus, he goes everywhere with Dante. What this harlot wants is for us to not only give Joey the message, but to keep Dante distracted while they're together.'

'See, _that's_ why I asked you to bring Tommy.' Darcy smirked. 'He'll keep you right. So, nine at the old picture house. Got that? Good. Come on, Pierce.'

'Whoa, wait!' Reese frowned, stepping out in front of her. She looked down her nose at him in distaste. 'You want us to go on a suicide mission so you can see your bit fluff?'

Darcy frowned and rested her hand on her hip. 'This is for _you_, remember. I'm going to get Chuck to lay off. This is a deal. If you don't keep your half, I won't keep my half. And I know I would rather be facing Dante than a whole army of Jocks.'

Tommy snorted. 'Well then you must be out of your head, sweetheart. Dante's a psycho.'

Darcy tilted her head and moved to Tommy. She stood in front of him, hands going behind her back again and her bottom lip protruding slightly. 'But surely _you're_ not scared of Dante Romano, _are_ you?'

Reese rolled his eyes at Tommy's docile expression. 'Oh geez…' he muttered.

'I'm not scared of that punk,' Tommy told her. 'He's a loser. We could totally take him, couldn't we, Reese?'

Reese just sighed and rubbed his forehead, wishing that he had left Tommy behind. 'Whatever, Tommy.'

'Then it's settled.' Darcy smiled. She smoothed down Tommy's collar and smiled patronisingly at him. 'Thanks Tommy, it means a lot.'

Tommy smiled goofily. 'Anything for you, Darcy.'

She glanced once at Reese, smirk on her pink lips. 'Remember, nine sharp.' she told him. 'Come on, Pierce, I need you to straighten my hair.' With that, she strutted away to the stairs, closely followed by her fake boyfriend.

'What a bitch…' Reese muttered, then looked to Tommy.

'Yeah, but she's a _hot_ bitch.' Tommy replied, watching after her.

'You do realise that you would never have any chance with her, don't you?' Reese frowned. 'Especially if you're helping her meet up with another frigging guy.'

Tommy shot him an annoyed look. 'Shut up, Reese. You don't know what the future holds. If I do enough favours for her she'll keep me in mind, and maybe one day I could at least get a pity date from her. And from what I heard she'll put out for anyone.'

'Tommy, you're such a loser.'

'Whatever, Reese,' Tommy snorted. 'You're just jealous cos she was looking at me the whole time.' He turned and headed for the stairs, waving at Reese to follow him. 'You heard the lady! Let's go find Mr Rizzo.'


	12. Workload

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since the last update, I've been hella busy and my internet hasn't been exactly reliable recently. It's just amazing it's stayed on long enough for me to post this chapter! I should be back to normal soon, so bear with me lol.  


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**Chapter Twelve**

**Workload**

Elliott groaned loudly as the smell of burning reached her nostrils and pushed the few stray strands of blonde hair from her harassed face. She had no idea why she had bothered with cooking; she knew fine well that she couldn't do it. If Gary hadn't been around she would have settled with one of those microwave burgers and a fruit cup. Not the healthiest thing in the world, but at least it was idiot proof. So why the hell had she decided to try and cook bolognaise?

She refused to admit it was because Gary had stayed for dinner. He wouldn't give a crap what she made as long as it was halfway edible. But maybe it _did_ have something to do with it…

Elliott turned her attention to the pan on the stove. It was billowing something that was either steam or smoke, and she had a haunting suspicion that it was smoke. She snatched up the wooden spoon from the workbench, grimacing as a small amount of tomato sauce splattered her cheek, and got stirring. The burning smell only seemed to get stronger and she hoped Gary couldn't smell it from in the living room. She chased him out earlier, not wanting him to witness her atrocious attempt at cooking, but now it seemed like it was going to be inevitable.

'What the hell are you doing?'

Elliott didn't turn at the sound of his amused voice. She only scrunched her nose and mentally cursed herself for believing that she could cook. 'I'm making bolognaise!' she reported, not wanting him to see how harassed she was. 'At least I think it's bolognaise… I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be red but this… This is kinda brown. But hey, I'm sure it'll taste the same…'

She trailed off, sensing him approaching. Great, this was when he stood and mocked her until she had to throw the lot away in shame. She felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment but she refused to stop stirring the smoking slop. Just when she thought she had it under control, she heard the familiar hissing sound of the pan boiling over.

'Oh… crap sticks.' she muttered, quickly plunging the sauce covered spoon into the boiling water to scrape the burning pasta from the bottom of the pan. 'Since when the hell has bolognaise been such a bitch to cook? That bald guy on the TV makes it look easy!'

'Here, let me help.' Gary smirked, holding his hand out and nodding to the spoon.

Elliott glanced up to him, aware of her slightly sweaty forehead, and held the spoon to her chest defensively. 'You can't cook.' she reminded him.

He only laughed and shook his head. 'Just move out of the way before the whole kitchen goes up in flames. I'll make sure there's food on the table.'

Elliott lowered one eyebrow distrustfully, but handed the spoon over. She cocked her head and watched as he reached down and turned off the stove.

'There's a knack for this.' he told her, setting the spoon down and picking up the pan full of smouldering brown gloop. He flashed her a grin and made his way over to the bin. Before Elliott could say anything, he had opened it and was pouring the destroyed bolognaise into the trash.

'Hey!' Elliott cried. 'What are you doing?'

Gary just laughed. 'Sorry Elliott, but I wouldn't have given that to a frigging dog. You just made Edna look like a gourmet chef.' He scraped the last of the sauce into the trash and dumped the pan in the sink.

Elliott gaped at him for a moment, and then folded her arms over her chest. 'Oh and I guess _you _could do so much better.'

'Probably,' he shrugged, still smirking. 'But if I'm completely honest all I want is a pizza. Actually, it should be here any minute.'

Elliott frowned in bewilderment. Any minute? The only way pizza would get to her house any minute was if he… Upon realisation, she drew in a shocked breath. 'You called for a pizza while I was cooking, didn't you?'

Gary chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, before tapping on his temple. 'You can't blame me for having forethought.'

Elliott scowled and thumped him in his shoulder. 'You cheeky… You were sitting in there waiting for me to mess up, weren't you? Well thanks for having faith in me, Gary Smith.'

'Come on, Elle. I know for a fact you've never cooked a proper meal in your life. Reese told me that for about three months he lived on nothing but Chinese takeout.'

She crossed her arms again and frowned sulkily at him. 'Bull.' she muttered.

'I hope you don't mind that I just ordered for you.' Gary told her, heading out of the kitchen and into the hallway. 'You were always just a plain cheese girl, weren't you?'

The fact that he knew what kind of pizza she liked just seemed to annoy her further. She shot the bin a brooding stare, and then chased after him, blowing her hair off her face in irritation. 'You're not a very good dinner guest, Gary.' she sulked, following him into the living room. 'You're supposed to sit quietly and eat whatever I give you, whether it's poisonous or not.'

He was by the window, peering out onto the front road. It was still raining lightly outside, but it was nowhere near as heavy as it had been. Classes at the Academy had finished a while ago and a few kids were beginning to pop up on the streets, most of them walking around in small groups. No sign of Reese though, although he probably had better things to do than come and visit his mother.

'I'll keep that in mind for the next time we do it.' Gary replied, still peering out at the street. 'I'll be a good little dinner guest, I promise. But I can't help it if I'm really genuinely hungry.'

Elliott dropped her hands by her sides and picked up the TV remote. She flicked the channel from the music video that Gary had been watching to the news, and said something before it had a chance to properly register; 'Well this is probably the only chance we'll get to do it, seeing as you're leaving and all.'

As soon as she spoke she regretted it. She felt her cheeks flush and she saw Gary turn and look over his shoulder at her from the corner of her eye, but she refused to take her eyes from the plastic looking news reporter to see his reaction. For a moment he was quiet, which only made her cheeks go redder.

'Well it's not like we're _not_ going to be eating,' he said finally, returning his attention to outside. 'And I'd rather sit on the couch with a pizza than at your evil tyrant dining table where we would have to shout across to eat other to have a decent conversation.'

Elliott realised she had been holding her breath and let it out slowly. She mentally thanked Gary for now turning that awkward comment into an awkward situation, and flopped down heavily on the couch. 'Don't be ridiculous. The table isn't that big.'

With a sigh of his own he pushed himself away from the window and moved to the couch, sitting at the other end of the three seater. 'Well it's unnecessary, is all I'm saying. Why buy a table that can seat about twelve people when there's only going to be one of you?'

Elliott rolled her eyes. 'You're just jealous because you eat at a poker table.' she shot, jokingly.

'Hey I like my poker table.' He smirked, glancing over at her. 'The green felt stops stuff sliding around.'

Elliott laughed and leaned her head back on the back of the couch. She lifted her feet and rested them on the coffee table, smoothing down her work skirt that she hadn't bothered to change out of yet. 'Well a poker table would look a bit out of place in that dining room. Although maybe if I got a stripper pole and a retro jukebox it would fit in.'

'I would eat your crappy bolognaise if there were stripper poles involved.'

'In your dreams, buddy.' She grinned and rolled her head to look at him. 'Hey, seeing as you think Edna's such a brilliant cook I'm sure we could get her over to give you dinner and a show.'

He laughed. 'Oh ew…' he sniggered. 'Just thinking about that has put me off pizza.'

'It'll put you off even more if you ordered one with mushrooms.' Elliott smirked.

Gary laughed again, louder. She smiled broadly, realising that she hadn't actually seen Gary laugh like that… well… _ever. _That was a scary thought actually. He had been in and out her life for nearly sixteen years, but this was the first time she had seen him genuinely laugh. A laugh that wasn't malicious. Until now she had thought that all Gary could do was malicious.

'You've got something on your cheek.' he told her, still chuckling and prodding at his left cheek.

Elliott wiped at her face and checked her hand, figuring that it was the remnants of the bolognaise.

'Well that was a failure.' Gary chuckled.

Elliott tried again, and by the quiet laugh that escaped Gary she knew she had missed again. 'You're just trying to make me look stupid.' she accused with a laugh.

Gary leaned over. 'You look stupid with food all over your face. Come here.'

Elliott only had to move her head over a little as Gary had leaned towards her. He wiped at her cheek with his thumb, the warmth of his hand surprising her. And unsurprisingly, for the millionth time, she blushed. This time the blush didn't go by unnoticed. The smirk on Gary's face faded a little, and he ran his thumb over her cheek again. This time she shuddered slightly and her own hand went up to his. He blinked, eyes going to their touching hands, then slowly moved forward.

'Gary,' Elliott said quietly, making him stop a few inches away from her. 'It's not a good idea.'

His dark eyes searched her face for a moment, and then his right eye narrowed slightly. The scar on his eyebrow twisted a little as his eyebrow lowered. 'I won't go, you know. Not if there's something worth staying for.'

Elliott looked down. His other hand rested on the couch between them. It was covered in tiny scars and nips, most from working at the docks but she recognised a lot of them from when they were at school. She ran her other hand over the back of it, feeling the bumps and scrapes. The hand on her cheek moved back, his fingers pushing gently into her hair.

'If something was going to happen it would have happened by now.' she said quietly, keeping her eyes fixed on their hands.

'Look at me and say that.'

Elliott didn't want to because she knew if she looked at him then that would be it. It was true that she had always had a special place for Gary. Sometimes she had wondered what it would be like if they got together again, but in her mind it always ended badly. Elliott was indecisive and awkward, while Gary was… well he was pretty sure what he wanted. Which was kind of the problem. If he was so sure he wanted it, who was to say when he finally got it that he would want it anymore?

'Everything's all weird right now,' Elliott said, more to herself than to him. She kept her eyes fixed on their hands - which were now intertwining. 'I mean… Reese has just gone off to school, I'm in this big stupid house… I might just be doing this because I'm lonely, and that's just sad, really. If anything was going to happen then I'd want it to be because…we meant it…' She finally looked up and felt her heart flutter at the sight of his dark eyes. 'You know?' she finished, lamely.

Apparently he didn't, because he just leaned forward so his forehead was against hers. His fingers moved to the back of her neck, gently stroking. It sent shivers down her spine and she closed her eyes, wanting to get up and move away but at the same time not wanting to break away from this newfound warmth.

He didn't say anything, but she didn't expect him too. Gary wasn't one for tender moments. He probably wouldn't say anything either way - whether she let him in or knocked him back. But as she felt him moving in, she realised she didn't have much of a choice. His lips grazed hers - just softly. At first she didn't react, but the urge was too strong. She moved forward to meet him this time, her hand squeezing his. Just as their lips pressed together, an awful sound rang out, making them both jump apart.

_BUUUZZZZZ._

'What the hell is that?' Gary breathed, colour high on his cheeks.

Elliott blinked, her head swimming. She could gather her thoughts to distinguish what the sudden invasive sound had been.

_BUUUZZZZZ_.

'It's the frigging doorbell.' Elliott muttered, pushing her hair back and getting up from the couch. She felt Gary's grip briefly tighten on her hand, as if trying to stop her from getting up to go to the door, but he released her in the end. She quickly moved to the hallway, feeling dizzy and light headed as she tried to fathom out just what had happened.

She reached the door, her mind organising itself enough to decide she needed a less invasive doorbell, and went to open it. Then she remembered about the pizza. Despite her purse being in the kitchen, she opened the door anyway, ready to tell the pizza kid that she would just be a minute. Only pizza kids didn't wear suits.

'Hi, Elliott,' Cole Oakley beamed at her. 'I hope I'm not interrupting anything, I was just passing by on my way home and I thought I might as well swing by to see if you had made a decision yet. I figured it would be easier than hanging around waiting for you to call, and it would save you actually having to call.'

Elliott blinked up at him and his brilliant smile, and almost burst out laughing at the lunacy of the situation. 'Oh, Mr Oakley… I-'

'Cole.' he smiled. 'Please, Elliott, I don't like people calling me the same thing they do my father…' He trailed off, noticing something over her shoulder. His brilliant smile seemed to falter slightly. 'Oh, I didn't realise you had company.'

Elliott looked around to see Gary by the doorway to the living room. Embarrassingly half his hair was sticking up from where he had been leaning on the couch. He had straightened up considerably also, his shoulders squared the way guys did when they felt they were under threat. His eyebrows were drawn together slightly, and as he had his wallet in his hand it looked like he had expected the pizza boy too.

'This is a bad time.' Cole wisely noted. 'I'll just go and wait for you call.'

'No, it's okay,' Elliott managed, quickly running her hand over her own hair to check it wasn't sticking up also. 'Um… I've already thought about it and… well, I'd love to work for you.'

Okay, _love_ was a bit of an overstatement. But best to be a suck up to your new boss.

Cole smiled broadly at her, but she knew that smile would have been brighter if Gary hadn't been standing eyeing her. 'Wonderful,' he beamed. 'Well I look forward to seeing you in the office first thing in the morning.'

Elliott nodded and half smiled. 'Thanks.'

'Not a problem,' Cole replied. He cast a brief glance to Gary, his hazel eyes studying the more rugged man. Then he nodded once again and shot a wink at Elliott. 'Enjoy the rest of your vacation.'

'I'll try, Mr Oa… Cole.' Elliott mentally pleaded for him just to leave, and thankfully he did. He turned and headed away down the garden path, swinging an umbrella up and it unfolded out with a _wumph_ above his head. Without looking back, he headed away up the street.

Elliott closed the door and rested her forehead against the cool wood for a moment, before turning and looking at Gary. He simply stood in the doorway, looking back at her with an unreadable expression on his face. But one thing was obvious - the moment had passed. Cole had made sure it wasn't going to go any further. Why, exactly, Elliott wasn't sure, but the feeling was strong in the air.

After a long, almost unbearable moment, Gary managed half a smile. 'Hope that pizza guy hurries up.' he said, disappearing back into the living room. 'I'm frigging starving.'

Elliott remained by the front door and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Then she surprised herself by realising that she was kind of glad that Cole had interrupted.


	13. Blood From A Stone

**A/N:I don't know if anyone noticed but I haven't been online much recently. I had to get a job! It sucks Dx But I should be back properly soon, now that I have a decent routine lol. Anyway, thanks for the reviews everyone! :D

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**Chapter Thirteen**

**Blood From A Stone**

'We're going to die tonight, I hope you realise that, Reese.'

Reese just responded with a light grunt and took another drink from the can of soda in his hand. At the moment they were on safe ground; the parking lot, which was Bully turf. While Reese and Tommy sat cross legged on top of the old school bus, watching the Greaser territory closely, Joshua and Blaine were busy playing some nonsensical game with a pile of battered and torn cards by the doors below them. They weren't helping out with the task at hand - in fact they didn't show any interest whatsoever. They probably just knew to mind their own business.

Tommy sighed heavily as he shifted to a more comfortable position. 'Look at those guys, it's like they're glued to the hip. There's no way we're going to get them away from each other long enough to tell Joey about his chick. We should just screw this and go get you drastic plastic surgery so Chuck Wiles won't recognise you.'

'I'm not scared of Chuck Wiles.' Reese snorted, pitching the empty can over his shoulder. It bounced noisily off the top of the rusted bus and then bounced off the tarmac below.

'Then why the hell are you doing this then?' Tommy cried, looking at him in confusion.

Reese looked back and him and shrugged. 'It passes the time?'

'You're crazy.' Tommy mumbled, shaking his head. 'You're going to get us killed for no reason at all. Y'know, I've enjoyed the past few years without you. You know why? Because you weren't around to drag me into all of these weird-ass schemes of yours. You're back in my life for two days or whatever, and already I'm envisioning my own death.'

'Stop being such a wimp, Tommy,' Reese frowned, quickly growing weary of the other boys complaints. 'Look on the bright side, at least you get to have a chat with Lara.'

Tommy's head snapped around, his heavy curly hair flopping over his eyes. He pushed it back and blinked rapidly. 'Uh… what?'

Reese just nodded to the auto shop. The Greasers were congregated by one of the rusted metal shutters, sitting around on various chunks of scrap metal. There were only five of them, including Lara, but they were insanely tough looking. Probably more so than the Jocks. Dante Romano was the only one standing, leaning against the garage wall and puffing away on a cigarette. Dante was the toughest looking, with huge shoulders that were clad in a oily leather jacket. His brown hair was swept over to one side, causing a few stray strands to fall over his intense eyes. Joey Rizzo, their target, was sitting on a rusted, empty car bonnet and laughing at some elaborate story that Jackie Esposito was telling. TJ Spinelli was sniggering, smoking a cigarette of his own. Lara sat on an overturned trashcan near Dante, her knees crossed and was, as ever, staring intently at her fingernails.

'Y-you mean you want me to talk to her?' Tommy spluttered. 'To Lara?'

Reese shrugged. 'Well think about it, it's perfect.' he replied. 'By the looks of her it isn't going to be long before she gets up to head back to the dorm, so as soon as she leaves those guys we'll go down and ask if she'd help us have a word with Joey. And if she says no you can just grab her boobs or something so she'll squeal and Dante will come running.'

Tommy snorted loudly. 'Oh right, so I'm bait if it all goes wrong.'

Reese nodded. 'Well yeah. Come on, Tommy, I know you'd do anything to even get in the same breathing area as Lara. Well this is your chance!'

Tommy considered this for a moment. 'I have been wanting to ask her if she fancied making out behind the Girl's dorm sometime…' he mused aloud.

Reese rolled his eyes. 'Yeah. You're a real smooth talker, Tommy. So are you in or are you going to screw all of this up?'

'I guess I don't have much of a choice.' he grumbled. 'Although I guess it's worth it if I get to talk to that piece of sex on legs.'

'Good.' Reese nodded, secretly disgusted by Tommy's frankly perverted mind. Any girl that would let him anywhere near them must be completely out of their mind. 'Right, well I guess we shouldn't have to wait very long. She's even starting to look bored with her fingernails.'

'Uh, Tommy?' Joshua's deep voice floated up from below, causing Reese and Tommy to peer over the side of the bus and down at the two bullies below. Seeing that he had their attention, Joshua went on to point across the parking lot. 'Proximity alert.' he reported.

They looked up to see someone approaching them. Immediately both of them groaned loudly. Tommy fell back with exaggerated exasperation, his weight making a echoing _thud_ as his back hit the bus roof. 'What the hell does _she_ want?' he groaned.

Taylor stopped by the two bullies sat on the ground and grinned at them. 'Hey there, guys. What are you playing?'

Blaine quickly gathered up the cards and held them defensively to his chest, like a child not wanting to lose his toys to some big bully - which was ironic considering Blaine was the bully. 'We're not playing anything.' he almost squeaked, looking up with wide eyes at the pale, grinning girl.

'Yeah, nothing at all.' Joshua agreed, getting to his feet. Blaine quickly followed suit. 'In fact,' Joshua went on. 'We're just heading off to crush some nerds. Isn't that right, Blaine?'

Blaine opened his mouth to reply, but only a squeak came out. He just lowered his head and scurried after Joshua, struggling to put the playing cards back into his pocket. Tommy had pulled himself to the edge of the bus and was lying on his stomach, peering over the edge with a frown on his face.

'You pair of pussies!' he yelled after the fleeing bullies.

Taylor looked up and grinned, planting one hand on her hip and running the fingers of her other hand through her dark hair. 'Well if it isn't my two favourite guys? What are you doing up there? Anything fun?'

'Screw off, Taylor.' Reese frowned. 'You're not wanted here, you loony.'

Taylor pouted mockingly. 'Aw, Reese. And here I thought we were on the same level. Are you two trying to get some alone time? Lying out under the stars, huh? So romantic. And it's ingenious of the two of you to go on _top_ of the school bus. I guess the inside is practically crawling with the amount of spilled juices in there…'

'Well she's messed it all up now.' Tommy announced, getting to his knees and throwing his hands up. 'No way is _anyone_ going to want to speak to us at all if they see that she's with us.'

Reese frowned, annoyed. This Taylor girl was really starting to grate on him. He leaned over the side of the bus to tell her to get lost again, this time with more ferocity, only to see that she wasn't where she had been standing. He blinked, confused, then heard thumping from the front end of the bus. He rolled his eyes in annoyance as she clambered over the bonnet and joined them on the roof.

'Wow you can see pretty far from up here.' she commented, shielding her eyes with one hand to look around - despite the fact their was no light to shield her eyes from. 'It's a good vantage point if, say, you wanted to spy on a certain greasy clique.'

'Taylor, please, just get lost will you?' Reese asked, resorting to pleading with the mental girl. 'I promise you can follow us around and torment us until your heart's content tomorrow, but we're busy right now.'

Taylor only moved towards them and sat down between them. Tommy grumbled and rolled his eyes, pulling his knees up to his chest defensively and looking away across the parking lot. Reese rubbed his head, stressed.

'Well it's no fun if it's not bothering you.' she smirked. She looked to Tommy and nudged him with her shoulder. 'Are you ignoring me, Tommy?'

Tommy only muttered again and shuffled further around so he had his back to her. Reese was quite amazed by it actually; Taylor appeared to be the only girl that Reese wasn't practically drooling over. Although it was hard to class Taylor as a girl; she was more like Hell spawn.

'Well, boys,' Taylor sighed. 'I'm a bit hurt, actually. The least the two of you could do is try and cop a feel.'

Reese looked over to the auto shop and felt even more dismayed as he saw Lara rising from her seat and saying something quietly to Dante. Dante nodded, then clicked his fingers at TJ; who abruptly got to his feet. This act looked like it majorly pissed off Lara, but she didn't say anything about it. 'Great,' Reese muttered. 'She's got a frigging escort.'

He realised that he said spoke aloud a little too late. Taylor leaned forward, putting her face near his and following his gaze over to the auto shop. 'Oh you're peeping on _Lara_!' she chuckled. 'Well I don't blame you, she's hot.'

Tommy glanced around, eyebrows drawn together in a mixture of confusion and disgust. 'Yeah,' he snapped. 'But we can't exactly talk to her with you here, can we?'

'You won't be able to talk to her with TJ there,' she replied, nodding to the short, baby-faced Greaser who was currently walking alongside Lara towards the parking lot. 'TJ will rip you to shreds if you so much as look in her direction. Not only is he under strict orders not to let anything with a penis within ten yards of her, but poor little TJ is head over heels for that greasy slut. Of course if Dante ever found out he would rip his balls off and pin them to his forehead. So poor little TJ is left to admire from afar, like the rest of us.'

Reese and Tommy were looking at her in confusion. 'Wait, are you gay?' Tommy asked, one eyebrow raised.

Taylor glanced to him, amused. 'Why? Would you like that, Tommy-boy?' She reached forward and prodded his nose.

Tommy blushed furiously and swatted her hand away. 'You friggin' freak…' he muttered, flustered.

'So if we try and talk to her if TJ's there, he'll try and chase us?' Reese asked, watching the two Greasers drawing closer.

'No, he'll just beat you both senseless.' Taylor replied with a shrug. She sighed lightly and leaned her head on Tommy's shoulder, much to his discomfort. 'Which would be fun to watch, so I suggest the pair of you get going.'

Reese frowned in thought, irritated that this whole thing was turning out to be much harder than it should have been. All they had to do was have a quick word with Joey Rizzo on his own, but the guy was harder to get alone than the damn President. 'This isn't going to work.' he mumbled.

'What are you trying to do anyway?' Taylor asked, wrapping her arms around one of Tommy's, ignoring the alarming shade of purple his face had gone and his weak attempts to shake her off.

'We need to talk to Joey Rizzo.' Reese replied. 'Without Dante.'

'Dude!' Tommy whined, voice high. 'What are you telling her for?'

'She might be able to help.' Reese shrugged.

'_Oh_ I get it now!' Taylor beamed, releasing Tommy and sitting up straight. Tommy immediately got on his hands and knees and crawled around to the other side of Reese, happy to be out of her reach. 'I was wondering why you were talking to Darcy in the library earlier. She wants to meet up with Joey, huh?'

Reese looked at her thoughtfully. 'You seem to know a lot about everyone in this place.' he pointed out.

Taylor waved a hand dismissively. 'I wander, I eavesdrop, I learn.' She tilted her head thoughtfully. 'I think I might be able to help you out.'

Reese eyed her for a moment. The girl was clearly around the twist, that was clear enough. And she also had a very peculiar gift of reducing Tommy - the guy who couldn't be embarrassed - to a blushing muttering wreck. But she seemed to know the ins and outs of the place, and perhaps she could be a help.

'Okay then.' Reese nodded. 'What do you think we should do?'

Tommy spluttered beside him. '_What_? Are you _kidding_? You're actually going to let her help us?'

'Oh shut up, Tommy.' Reese groaned. 'Stop complaining, will you?'

Tommy opened his mouth, presumably to continue complaining, but he was silenced as Taylor reached over Reese and planted her hand on the inside of Tommy's thigh. 'Grow some balls, Tommy,' she smirked at him, and then winked. 'You'll need them later.'

Tommy went scarlet. He pulled his legs up to his chest and looked away, unblinking. Reese moved back and got to his feet, bored of the freak show that was Tommy and Taylor.

'Forget it, both of you. I'll do it myself.' he growled, and then climbed down the side of the bus. Tommy quickly followed, probably not wanting to be left with Taylor, but he seemed to be having problems walking with a straight spine.

'_Hey Dante!_' Taylor's voice suddenly rang out, causing both Reese and Tommy to freeze in alarm. '_Tommy Jackson just told me that you've got pretty eyes_! How bout you come over and repay the compliment? He says he's got some fluffy handcuffs!'

The air seemed to go icy cold for a moment. Tommy's eyes were impossibly huge and he stared in disbelief at Reese. Reese stared back, unsure what to do or say. After a long, awful moment, Dante's furious voice yelled; '_What_?!'

Taylor turned and looked to Reese and Tommy, and winked. 'Don't say I don't do anything for you.' she grinned.

The sound of hollow metal clinking and clanging made the hairs stand up on the back of Reese's neck. The Greasers were arming themselves, and the three monsters were going to come hurtling out of the auto shop to beat them both bloody for even mildly _implying_ that Dante Romano was gay.

'_Shit_!' Tommy wailed, scrambling down off the bus. 'You fuckin' bitch! What the hell did you go and do that for? Do you want me dead?' He didn't wait around for an answer though. As soon as his feet hit the tarmac, the Greasers emerged, armed with thick metal poles.

'I told you to keep your head down, Tommy,' Dante growled. 'But if you insist on provoking me and trying to make me look like a goddamn idiot, I'm gonna have to make you keep your head down.' He began to stalk forward, flanked by Jackie.

'It was that crazy bitch!' Tommy cried, pointing frantically at Taylor who was peering over the side of the bus with a huge grin on her face. 'She's… I didn't…' Realising that Dante wasn't going to back off, Tommy did the only thing he could think of, and that was to turn on his heels and flee.

'Get back here, you perverted little turd!' Dante yelled, racing after him. 'Jackie, you make sure you cut him off if he tries to get to the dorm. Joey, head round the other way in case he tries to backtrack. No one gets away with calling Dante Romano gay.'

Reese had gone by unnoticed, and for that he was mildly grateful, although he was a little worried for Tommy. But Tommy had some legs on him, and being as terrified as he was he would probably be all the way in Blue Skies before the Greasers reached the gates.

'Well what are you waiting for?' Taylor smirked from above. 'Joey's off on his own. This is the only chance you'll get.'

Reese eyed her for a moment, eyebrows drawn together. 'You're a frigging mental patient. You do know that, right?'

Taylor shrugged. 'I kind of figured that out.' she replied, then winked one of her pale blue eyes at him. 'Tell Tommy I'll kiss his boo-boos better if he wants.' Reese screwed up half his nose in disgust, before jogging after the target Greaser.

Joey Rizzo apparently didn't care much about heading off Tommy, as Reese found him leaning against a wall just outside the parking lot smoking a cigarette. He had balanced the metal pipe against the wall beside him and was blowing smoke rings up at the dark sky. He noticed Reese approaching out of the corner of his eye and turned his attention to him, dark eyes narrowing. Joey was smooth skinned and handsome - probably a total ladykiller - with slicked back dark hair that didn't have a single strand out of place. His leather jacket was actually dark brown instead of black, like Reese had thought, and it was a lot cleaner than Dante's. He wore a white Bullworth polo-shirt underneath, but it was smeared with various oil stains. His jeans were raggy and also heavily stained, but his black boots were practically gleaming.

'What you starin' at, kid?' Joey demanded viciously. 'If you dare ask me for a smoke I'll stub this one out in your damn eyeball.'

Reese had to stop himself from smirking. He wasn't scared of this grease ball, but the last thing he wanted was to get into a fight - especially if said grease ball had a metal pole handy. 'I've got a message for you actually.'

Joey straightened up and took a step towards Reese. He rolled his neck, causing it to crack twice, and then pitched his cigarette at the other boy's feet. Reese didn't flinch. 'Oh yeah?' Joey sneered. 'You do realise that I take great pleasure in shooting the messenger. So who wants a fight with me now, huh? Bet it's one of those goddamn steroid monkeys. Well you can tell them that I'll happily come down and rearrange their faces for them.'

'It's from Darcy, actually.' Reese shrugged. 'But if you'd rather be left alone then…'

'Oh,' Joey grimaced, deflating. 'What does that crazy bitch want?'

'A date, apparently.' Reese told him. 'She wants to meet you at the old picture house in Bullworth Town at nine sharp. That's all she said, really.' He paused, regarding Joey as he took another cigarette from a metal case in his hand and lit it. 'Are you two actually dating? Or is she just crazy.'

'Both.' Joey replied, blowing smoke out of his nostrils. 'She's a crazy, self centred, spoilt Preppy bitch but she puts out, y'know?' He rubbed his nose and shrugged. 'If I'm honest I can't fucking stand her, but she helps pass the time I guess.'

'She said that if Dante notices you gone he'll know you're up to something.' Reese told him. 'Does that mean me and Tommy have got to keep him distracted while you two do your thing?'

Joey's brow darkened. 'You think Dante needs to know where I am twenty-four seven? I can do whatever the fuck I like, kid. I don't have to run it by him first.' He narrowed his eyes and took another step forward. 'Wait, you're that new kid, ain't you? The one who caved in Chuck Wiles' face this morning?'

Reese shrugged. 'Hopefully I won't get any bother from him. This is supposed to be a deal with Darcy. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours kind of thing.'

Joey smirked and chuckled lightly. 'Oh Darcy scratches alright. She's lucky I like a girl with claws.' He took two quick drags from his cigarette and nodded. 'Okay, well thanks for the heads up, kiddo. I guess my night isn't going to be a dry as I thought it was. What was your name again?'

'Reese Nixon.' He paused. 'Smith.'

Joey Rizzo was the first person who didn't look at Reese like he was the messiah and/or anti-Christ. The corners of his mouth turned down briefly and he nodded. 'Oh yeah, I heard about you. Well seeing as you've been a halfway decent messenger I won't shoot you or anything like that. You can go about your shit. Just make sure you keep out of the way in future, 'kay kiddo? Don't come up to me and act like I'm your buddy, cos I'm not your buddy. Got that, kiddo?'

'I got it.' Reese replied, passively.

Joey eyed him. 'Good.' He glanced at his watch. 'Well it seems that I got myself a date.' He went to head past Reese, and then stopped and planted a strong hand on Reese's shoulder. 'You don't have any condoms or anything on you by any chance?'

Reese shrugged apologetically. 'Sorry man. I'm all out.'

Joey snorted. 'Thought so.' he muttered. 'Well see ya, kiddo. Stay sane.'

With that Joey strolled away, hands buried in his pockets and cigarette leaving a smoky trail behind him. Reese watched him go, amused. So that wasn't as hard as he had thought it would be. At least not for him. But he was pretty sure Tommy could take care of himself.

With a grin, Reese pushed his hands in his pockets and made his way around to the dorm, happy that his mission had gone to plan.


	14. Abusing Authority

**A/N: Just a short chapter here... it's basically a set-up chapter lol. But it is going to briefly make Elliott and Reese's storylines cross :P  


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**Chapter Fourteen**

**Abusing Authority**

When Cole Oakley had said the office would be buzzing when his clients found out he had returned, Elliott had just assumed that the guy was just bigging up his ego. She hadn't expected a work load any bigger than any of her other bosses. Friday evenings and Monday mornings were always the heaviest parts of the week, with Wednesdays generally being dead. It was Wednesday today, but the office certainly was _not_ dead.

The phone had been ringing practically off the hook all morning, with various big shots (a lot of names that Elliott recognised from newspapers and rich lists) demanding to have a meeting with Cole Oakley. So after only one hour Cole Oakley was fully booked with clients for the next three weeks – and the calls just kept on coming.

Elliott had never had to work so hard in an office in her whole life. She was actually breaking out a sweat as she frantically typed in the details of what seemed like the billionth client into the computer system. Although it probably wouldn't have been as hard if she hadn't insisted on writing a hard copy of each appointment in the large, leather bound notebook on the desk. But these people seemed important, and if the computer system crashed and all the information was lost she knew she would get slaughtered.

But at least all this excitement her mind was kept off the more cringe worthy thoughts of Gary. After Cole had so conveniently interrupted, Gary had stayed for the pizza, and then had made a swift exit. Elliott didn't blame him; if it hadn't been her own house she would have done exactly the same. They had made thin, strained conversation; both sitting on opposite sides of the room. The moment between them had been lost, and despite the fact both of them might have wanted to recapture it, no one made a move. Which just left awkwardness.

And she was supposed to be going to the school reunion with him? Geez that would be a hoot and a half. She wouldn't be surprised if he just rushed off to his new job without a word.

Might even be for the best.

Elliott hung up on her billionth caller and sighed, taking the split second of silence to check the time. It wasn't even lunchtime yet. Not for the first time she regretted taking this job. Her first day and already she could feel her throat getting sore with the amount of talking she had done. By the end of the week she would be mute, she knew it.

The phone began to ring again and she restrained a loud curse. Instead she glared at it bitterly, wondering if she should pick up at all. They could just call back later – after all they weren't going to get to see Oakley for another three weeks anyway, so it wouldn't kill them to wait a little while before they made that appointment. But then she noticed that it was an internal line, and realised it was probably Cole wanting something. She felt a pang of panic. Had she had another job to do? Like letters or something? She couldn't remember, but she was quite sure he had just said phones...

Elliott scooped up the phone and put it to her ear. 'Yes, Mr Oakley?' she said in her smart receptionist voice that she was sick of hearing this morning.

There was a light, amused chuckle from down the other end. 'Hold all calls, Elliott, and come on in here. A mid-morning break is in order.'

'Um, okay Mr Oakley.' Elliott frowned vaguely. Mid-morning break? It was only half an hour away until lunch!

'It's Cole, Elliott.'

Before she could correct herself, he had hung up. She sat there for a moment, bewildered, before setting the phone on mute and rising out of her seat. She had been sitting so long that her joints had gone stiff, but with a quick flex she headed towards the closed door of her boss's office and put her hand on the handle. Should she knock or just head on in? Well he was expecting her so... She smoothed her hair back and then walked in the office.

Cole's office was huge – much bigger than anyone else in the building. It was decorated in the style of some kind of Japanese dojo house, which was quite calming and pleasant, and there was a faint smell of incense coming from somewhere. Cole was behind his desk, looking as smart as ever in a jet black suit with a dark red, tie-less shirt on beneath it. His hair was just as spiked and crazy as ever, but there was the marked difference in that he had shaved. Elliott thought it best not to mention it though.

'Don't just linger by the door,' he chuckled, eyeing her with those glittering eyes of his. He reminded Elliott faintly of a lion in the underbrush and suddenly wanted nothing more than to go back and carry on receiving those stupid phone calls. 'Come sit down. Relax a bit. You've been working hard this morning.' He leaned back and tapped his computer as she approached the chair. 'I've been keeping tabs on you updating the system. I've got to say I'm astounded at how many calls you've managed to get through. You're like a pro.'

Elliott perched on the edge of one of the smooth leather chairs opposite his desk. 'I made a hard copy too.' She told him. 'Just in case the system failed or something.'

'Oh you don't have to worry about that. This system is absolutely flawless. And even if it did do the impossible and fail, everything is backed up to an external system in the closet. I know, not the best of places to keep a computer, but it made the room look untidy.'

Elliott glanced around for a closet, but she couldn't see one. She cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably, then looked back to her boss. 'Was there uh... something you wanted me to do?' she asked.

Cole just smiled and reached into the bottom drawer of his desk. 'Calm down, Elliott. You're sitting there like a schoolgirl in the principal's office. I told you I didn't want to be one of those bosses that demand respect and stiff upper lips.' He produced two paper bags, putting one in front of him and handing one over the desk to her. 'I know it's not quite lunchtime, but I'll probably working through mine and I really wanted to have lunch with you today. To see how you were getting on.'

Elliott cocked an eyebrow at the paper bag before she took it. 'I'm really not that hungry, Mr... Cole. And the phone is flashing like mad so I think I should really take some of those calls...'

'Do you like sushi, Elliott?' Cole interrupted, peering into the bag.

'Not really.' Elliott grimaced. Trust him to have some fancy food for lunch.

'Good,' Cole smirked as he reached into the back and produced a little card carton full of fries. 'Because it's nothing that special.'

Elliott peered into her own bag to see a wrapped burger and fries inside. She blinked, surprised. She hadn't expected someone like him to eat stuff like this. Although she was relieved; if it _had_ been sushi she would have had to eat it so as not to be rude, and she was pretty sure if she had she would have puked all over his office.

But then again that would be one way to get her old job back.

'I'm so sorry for interrupting you last night,' Cole said as he picked at one of the fries. 'I wasn't really thinking. Sometimes I forget that people have lives outside of work, as I don't.'

'It's okay,' Elliott shrugged. 'We were just... well...' She paused, wondering if she should tell him about her complicated history with Gary. It would probably have to come up sooner or later, so she sighed a little. 'That was Reese's dad. My son, Reese. He uh... We were just talking. About stuff.'

Cole nodded, but kept those eyes on her. 'Ah, right. Now that I think back they are quite a double of each other, aren't they? Although I've only seen them both briefly...' He paused to eat one of the fries, and while he chewed Elliott saw him looking at her hands. She knew what was coming next. 'So you're not married?'

Elliott shook her head. 'We're not together.'

'Well it's not like you're missing out,' Cole laughed. 'I've been married three times now, and every time it's been a shambles. But when you rake in over a four and a half hundred grand a year it's hard to find someone who likes you for who you are, and not for the money.'

Elliott blinked. 'That's a lot of money.' She pointed out.

Cole sniffed and glanced away, looking slightly bored. 'And that's not even counting bonuses. Enough about money though, the subject bores me. I hope you don't think I'm being nosy or anything, but I like to get to know my receptionists. If it's too much then feel free to tell me to mind my own business.'

Elliott bit back a sharp retort telling him that maybe he _should_ mind his own business – after all she was only here to answer the phones, not eat junk food with him and be his new BFF. 'It's fine.' She said instead.

He nodded, smiling. 'Well all I can think of is that it must be you who is keeping the pair of you apart, as no one in their right mind would let a dime like you slip away.'

Elliott glanced away, embarrassed. 'I think I should really go back to the phones...' she started.

'How about dinner?' He said, again ignoring her. He smiled lopsidedly, raising one eyebrow inquisitively. 'Say... tomorrow night? Purely business, of course.'

_You have _got_ to be kidding me_, Elliott thought irritably. So that was it, huh? This guy had only offered her this job to get into her pants? Sure looked that way. But then again why the hell would he offer her pay rises just for that purpose? She wasn't _that_ special. She was no supermodel.

_It's because he has the money for it, idiot_, her brain told her harshly. _Weren't you listening? He probably does it for fun. He just wants a cute little secretary to come in between meetings to have a good fool around until he heads back home to the rest of his little harlots who are probably waiting for him_.

'I think I'm busy tomorrow night.' Elliott told him, knowing fine well that she wasn't.

Cole nodded, but it was obvious he wasn't going to give up that easily. 'Tonight then? Only I remember you saying this morning that you weren't doing anything.'

_Shit_, Elliott thought. 'Well, um...'

'You're not doing anything, are you?' Cole pushed.

'Well, no... but-'

'Then I'll pick you up at eight.' He grinned. Obviously that had been his only reason for inviting her into his office, because he immediately put the paper bag down and sat forward. 'Now if that's settled I have a few calls to make. You can take your lunch break now if you want, just make sure you're back for one.'

Elliott blinked at him in bewilderment. What a frigging nerve! He had just practically forced her into going to dinner, and like hell she wanted to sit opposite him and listen to him drone on about how many clients he had and how much money he had and his ex wives or whatever... She opened her mouth to tell him that it wasn't settled, and she _wasn't_ going for dinner with him because she didn't want to work for a _pervert_...

...but he had already picked up the phone and was talking to someone. He winked at Elliott, and then turned away in his chair as he jovially chatted to a client.

Seething, Elliott rose out of her seat and left the office. Damn right she was going to take her dinner break now. If she stayed in this building a minute longer and she would implode.


	15. Family Ties

**A/N: Well this chapter took me a while lol. I guess I've been pretty distracted by a lot of things recently, including my dA account lol. I've been going a bit mental with my graphics tablet recently, but I've had to really because it's to build up my illustration portfolio for September. **

**ANYWHO yes I'm back on this story. There'll probably be a surge of updates over the next few days, then it'll dry up again xD

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**Chapter Fifteen**

**Family Ties**

'Remember, children, the cameras are a part of _you_ now. Whatever you feel, they feel. So _feel_ whilst you're taking the picture. _Feel_ with your soul, and you pictures will be true works of beauty.'

Reese drowned out Ms Phillips, the hippy-like Art and Photography teacher, and followed the other students out of the classroom. Everyone was fiddling with their new cameras, some kids already managing to rip off the lens or jam the shutter release. But it wasn't like the cameras were anything special; just bulky black and white things. Reese wasn't impressed with his, but then again he had never been all that keen on photography.

He stepped out into the corridor, fiddling with the contraption with a frown on his face. Too preoccupied with it, he didn't notice the small girl behind the pile of text books racing towards him. He only glanced up just as she slammed into him, their impact surrounded with a burst of fluttering white papers. The books fell to the ground with a chorus of thuds, one of them landing right on Reese's foot.

'_Ow_!' he cried, hopping back from the disaster area. 'Geez watch where you're going, will you?'

The girl who had been piled high with text books had gone quite pink. She was quite short – possibly as small as most of the little kids who raced around the campus – with brown hair that was cropped to just below her ears. Her face was slightly mouse like, but in a strange way still cute. Freckles sprinkled her face, along with one pretty nasty looking spot in the middle of her forehead (she was trying, and failing, to conceal it with her hair), and a pair of rectangular purple rimmed glasses were perched on her nose.

'Well excuse _me_ if I didn't expect recently defrosted Neanderthals to be blocking the hallway.' She grumbled, stooping down to gather up her spilled papers.

Reese watched her, trying to remember her name. Tommy had pointed her out on the first day. She was a Nerd; he knew that without having to remember what his friend had said about her. She wore the Astronomy Club sweater and a matching green plaid skirt. The colours were enough to make you feel nauseas.

'Wait,' He pointed a finger as her as she scraped the papers into a messy pile. 'It's Mallory, isn't it?'

Mallory Steiner looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. 'I know your game,' she spat venomously. 'I've seen you hanging out with that monster Tommy Jackson. Don't think you can try and be friendly with me so you can turn around seconds later and slap and loogie in my face or something. So just be on your way, scoundrel.'

Reese smirked, lifting his foot as she tugged irritably on a bit of paper that was beneath it. He had met his fair share of Nerds in the past so he wasn't surprised by Mallory's hostility. She had probably watched her friends be agonisingly tortured for the last few years at the hands of Tommy and co. That was enough to turn anyone negative – and that was _without_ the inevitable abuse she probably received from the tall and pretty girls that strutted around the halls. After a moment of watching her, he knelt down and began to pick up a couple of the books.

Mallory stopped what she was doing and stared at him. 'What do you think you're doing?'

Reese smirked, amused, and handed her the books. 'Helping.' He replied. 'You are aware of the term, aren't you?'

Mallory scowled and snatched the books, tucking them under her arms. She unsteadily got to her feet, the pile much too big for her. It was only going to be a matter of time before she dropped them again, and next time it would probably be in front of someone a little worse than Reese. 'You don't fool me,' she spat. 'You're a wolf in sheep's clothing. A... a good Samaritan with a needle full of anthrax behind your back.'

Reese just shrugged and went back to fiddling with his camera. 'Okay. Well, mind your step from now on.'

Mallory stared at him incredulously. He had to stifle a smirk. Okay, so he was messing with her, but it wasn't really a _bad_ kind of messing. She was expecting him to knock the books out of her hands, maybe make a passing jibe about her sexuality or give her a lecherous grope, but simply by remaining pleasant it had more of an effect than any of those things could. She blinked twice, frowned vaguely, and then scurried off a little too quickly. Three sheets of paper escaped her grip and were left behind, but she didn't go back for them.

Chuckling, Reese shook his head. He could tell he was going to have a lot of fun with her in the future.

'_Reese_!' a frankly furious voice rang out, causing even Reese to jump. He glanced around in alarm, and then relaxed when he saw Tommy storming towards him.

'Hey, Tommy!' he smiled, waving one hand. 'I was wondering where you got to. Everything with Joey went fine-'

'Oh it did, did it?' Tommy scowled, waving his arms to emphasise his sarcasm. 'Well I'm so happy for you. Do you know what kinda night I've had?'

Reese eyed him. Tommy's eyes had dark rings around them and his hair was even more dishevelled than usual. He didn't look like he had slept much, if at all, and as Reese took a breath to speak he was quite sure he could smell sour milk on him.

'That's right,' Tommy snarled, not waiting for a response and prodding Reese in his shoulder. 'A pretty freakin' _crappy_ one! I've been running around this town all damn night with that crazy bastard on my tail. And where were you, huh? In _bed_! Sleepin' like a freakin' log!'

Reese blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. 'Wow. The guy must have been pretty keen to get his hands on you.'

'Huh, you think?' Tommy snapped, eyes wide and slightly bloodshot. 'I should kick your ass for putting me through that, Reese. And I would if I wasn't so frigging tired!'

Reese rolled his eyes and held up his hands defensively. 'That wasn't my fault, Tommy. It was that psycho bitch who got Dante after you.'

Tommy wrinkled his nose and began to head away, knowing Reese would automatically follow him, which he did. 'Yeah well I just think it's kinda funny that I've been at this dumb school as long as she has, but it's only once _you_ turn up that she starts buggin' the crap out of me.'

'So that's my fault?' Reese laughed, fiddling with his new camera as he walked alongside the irritable bully. 'Maybe I just gave her an excuse to start bugging you. She obviously digs you big time.'

Tommy shot him a horrified look. 'Don't even _joke_, man. That's not funny.'

Reese raised an eyebrow. Tommy's cheeks had gone a little pink, but surely the guy wasn't embarrassed. Tommy didn't get embarrassed around anything, especially not girls. Reese had heard him say things to girls that would make big hairy bikers blush. 'What's wrong with Taylor? I thought you went after anything with boobs.'

Tommy snorted. 'She's from the pits of hell, man. Seriously. She should be cut up for scientists to experiment on. There's no way I would ever, _ever-_'

Reese laughed. 'Oh Tommy, man. You do like her, don't you?'

Tommy whirled around, face turning beetroot. 'Y'know what, Reese? I'm sick of your friggin' crap. You've only been here a couple of days and already you've got me at the end of my rope! You want to back down or I'll go tell the guys that you're not untouchable anymore, 'kay?'

Reese shook his head, trying to look serious but failing quite a bit. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't mean to rile you up, Tommy. I promise I'll not get you involved in anymore stuff like that, okay?'

Tommy eyed him suspiciously. 'You promise?'

Reese laid a hand on his shoulder and nodded. 'Promise.' An inevitable smirk began to creep across his face. 'Anyway, by the way things are going you'll probably be too busy doing the dirty with Taylor. And I bet she does it _dirty_.'

Tommy's face contorted into a scowl and he slapped Reese's hand away. 'Thin ice, Nixon,' he snarled as he began to storm away, not watching where he was going. 'Majorly thin--'

His warning was interrupted as he walked into someone coming the other way. Due to Tommy's exhaustion and the fact the person was much bigger than him, Tommy fell back on his ass, landing hard on the polished floor. He cursed loudly, leaning over a little to rub his backside with his hand, and looked up with a deep scowl.

'You should watch where you're going, peasant.' Hunt Oakley sneered, hands pushed in the pockets of his pristine Aquaberry slacks. 'You should stick to the pissy gutters like the rest of your kind.'

Reese frowned and moved forward, pulling Tommy up to his feet. Behind Hunt stood three other Preps, two of them he didn't recognise, but Darcy was amongst them. She didn't appear to be the slightest bit interested in the scene unfolding before her; she was much to busy tapping away on her cell phone.

'Don't you have brothers to be violating, shit face?' Tommy scowled, brushing himself down and taking to Reese's side - their previous squabble now forgotten.

Hunt's expression darkened briefly. His grey coloured eyes looked like storm clouds and his strong jaw clenched. 'I don't want to speak with you, Jackson, so please spare me the unpleasantries.' He turned his gaze to Reese, the corner of his smug mouth turning up. 'It's Mr Nixon I came over to see.'

Reese tilted his head, eyebrows drawing together. 'Oh yeah? Well I'm not on display in an art gallery, pal, so move along.'

Hunt chuckled, amused. 'It disappoints me to see you mixing with this paupers, Nixon. Especially since your mother has just entered such a privileged world.'

'Fuck you, Hunt.' Tommy snarled. 'Or should I say _Cu-_'

'Hold on there, Tommy,' Reese said, holding a hand up to his friend. He narrowed his eyes at Hunt and took a step forward. 'What are you talking about? My mom's got nothing to do with you.'

Hunt removed a hand from his pocket and ran it over his smooth, heartthrob hair. 'Well usually that would be the case, and no offence to you or your mother but I would have preferred to keep it that way. But, alas, fate always serves sly hands.'

Reese eyed the smug looking Preppy, wondering what his game was. He risked a quick glance to Darcy, but she still wasn't paying any attention whatsoever to any of them. But then again she wouldn't want to give away their deal yesterday. It was supposed to be a secret after all. Reese returned his attention to Hunt, eyes narrowing. He didn't like how he seemed to be attracting all this attention from these rich bastards so early on. He suspected that Hunt was just baiting him somehow, after all everyone had seen the way he had reacted to comments about his mother in the auditorium.

'Don't listen to him, Reese,' Tommy insisted, trying to pull him away. 'He's just trying to make you flip or something. He'll get you to punch him and then get his daddy or his frigging uncle to sue you for every penny.'

Hunt just laughed. 'I doubt I would get much, do you? No, this isn't any kind of façade to goad you, Nixon. It's a genuine meeting of curiosity. You see… well, my uncle is Cole Oakley. You've probably heard of him…'

'Doesn't ring a bell.' Reese said quickly, frowning at him.

Hunt hesitated. 'Well… fair enough. Well Cole has currently just employed your mother as his associate. And…' He paused to chuckle. 'Well this has sparked the interest of the rest of the family. You see Cole isn't very good at holding a wife down; at least not in the way we would _like_ him to… It gives the company a much for friendly aura when the clients are faced with a man wearing a wedding ring, so despite your mother's rather… _patchy_ background, we are hoping it works out. And fairly quickly.'

Reese gawped at him for a long moment, as did Tommy from behind his shoulder. Finally Tommy prodded Reese. 'Your mom's getting _married_?' he cried, sounding more hurt than surprised.

'What?' Reese cried. 'No! That's bullshit. She's not anyone's _associate_. She's a secretary. And there's no way in _hell_ that she would get married to some Preppy loser. You've got it wrong, Hunt, so you might as well just buzz along.'

Hunt's eyebrows had lifted. 'Well that was only the reaction I could have expected, I suppose.' He sighed and pushed both his hands back in his pockets. 'Well I suggest you get in with the program and get up to date with your mother. Nothing is set in stone just yet, but Cole is quite notorious for getting what he wants.' With a smirk and a patronising wink, Hunt turned away. 'Well we'll speak later, friend. Hopefully on even closer terms.'

Reese couldn't even speak as the Preppies retreated. He just gawped after them, mind blank. He was only roused from his stupor when Tommy started shaking his shoulder.

'That's bullshit, isn't it?' he scowled. 'She's not, is she?'

Reese turned and looked at him. 'We're going to have to go see my mom.'

A grin spread across Tommy's face. 'Now you're talking.' he beamed, squeezing Reese's shoulder. 'That's the best idea I've heard all day.'


	16. Just Dropping By

**A/N: This chapter is a bit sucky... but at least Tommy gets to see his dream girl x3 Ooh and there's a poll on my page that I'd appreciate a vote on THANKS :B  


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**Chapter Sixteen**

**Just Dropping By**

Elliott spent the rest of the day seething behind her desk. She snapped at clients and screwed up three appointments, but she didn't care. That sleazy son of a bitch deserved it anyway. It wasn't like he had employed her for her work skills, so there wasn't much reason for her to work too hard, was there? So she had continued to bumble through the day, watching the clock. She desperately wanted to leave, but at the same time she didn't want to go home because it only meant she would be closer to this awful inevitable dinner.

This _purely business_ dinner.

Whatever.

After dropping her keys on the side table to her left, Elliott slammed the front door shut behind her with much more force than she needed to. The sound echoed around the building, making her shrink into herself. She scolded herself mentally at being such a wuss and stormed towards the kitchen, leaving behind a trail of outdoor clothes as she went.

'Bloody Oakley,' she muttered, flicking the kettle on with her thumb and going in the cupboard for a coffee mug. 'Sleazy, rich, arrogant, handsome, smug son of a…' She stopped abruptly at the sound of a thump coming from upstairs. She turned the kettle off and backed away from the counter, eyes wide and peering upwards.

At first she felt a pang of annoyance at herself once again being terrified of this stupid house, but that feeling was quickly cast aside as a thought struck her. Could be an excuse to get out of this stupid dinner tonight. If she was being burgled then maybe she could play on the trauma or whatever and maybe get a couple of days away from that stupid office whilst she was at it.

Jesus, one full day of working and she was already trying to think of ways to get away from it. Maybe if she hated it that much she should just quit…

Another thump brought her back to the situation at hand, but her train of thought had killed any fear inside of her. So instead she headed towards the stairs and tentatively made her way up, so as to not interrupt whoever was lurking around up there. If it was a psycho with a machete, hopefully she could leg it back downstairs and onto the street before he spotted her.

Although by the time she got upstairs it was silent. There were no bumps or thumps, shuffles or anything for that matter. But to be sure she took a step forward, peering down the corridor. She cleared her throat and then called;

'Hello?'

_Bump_. 'Ow!'

Elliott recoiled at the voice and her heart immediately set into high gear. Why the hell did crazy people keep coming to her house? First the accountant in her trash, now… whoever it was who appeared to be in her bedroom? Maybe it wasn't the size of the house she should be afraid of, maybe it was the way it seemed to just let any Tom, Dick and Harry to come sauntering in off the streets.

She was just about to turn and run back down the stairs when the bedroom door to her left - Reese's bedroom - swung open. A strangled squeak managed to escape her mouth before her eyes focused on who it actually was in front of her.

'Jesus Reese!' she breathed, her hand going to her chest. 'What the hell are you doing?'

Reese blinked at her, looking just as surprised to see her as she did. 'Oh, uh… hi mom.' he said, lamely. 'I didn't think you would be back for another half hour or so.'

Elliott stared at him for a long moment, trying to calm her racing pulse down. Then it occurred to her that she hadn't actually seen or spoken to Reese since she had dropped him off at Bullworth nearly two days ago. A smile spread across her face and she grabbed him, pulling him into a bear hug.

'You little ass!' she laughed, hugging him tightly. 'You nearly scared the living daylights out of me!' She released him and held him by his shoulders, taking a moment to regard him. Of course he didn't look any different, apart from the fact he was now wearing his school uniform (which did actually suit him quite a bit). 'How's school going? Made many friends? Or should I ask if you've made many enemies?'

Reese wriggled out of her grip. He had never been comfortable with open shows of affection. 'It's okay,' he told her. 'I haven't been beaten up or anything.'

Elliott lowered one eyebrow. 'Well they probably know better because they know they'll have to deal with me.' she told him, then immediately realised how absurd it sounded. Reese noticed too because he rolled his eyes. 'What are you doing here anyway?' she asked. 'I didn't expect you to come running home after two days.' She smirked and prodded him in his shoulder. 'Did you miss mommy?'

He frowned. 'No. I just… needed a few things and I didn't…'

The sound of a door opening along the hall interrupted Reese and made Elliott glance around. She suddenly remembered hearing a voice coming from _her_ room. Seeing Reese had made her forget.

At first she didn't recognise the messy haired, slightly rugged looking boy standing gawping dumbly at her. There was something slightly familiar about him, but she couldn't quite place it. She turned to her side so she could see both Reese and his friend, and managed a smile. It was a bemused smile, as she couldn't figure out whether to be annoyed or curious to why this kid had just been in her bedroom.

'Oh mom,' Reese said, sensing the confusion. 'This is Tommy. You remember Tommy Jackson, don't you?'

Elliott narrowed one eye, and then it fell into place. Her face lit up and she smiled brightly. 'Oh Tommy! Wow look at you! Getting all… manly.' She chuckled at herself, knowing she sounded like some embarrassing grandmother and not caring. 'Last time I saw you you were all chicken legs and twig arms. You aren't half filling out there, kid.'

Tommy went a strange colour, a kind of pale pink and he blinked rapidly. 'Uh…' He swallowed once, and then fell silent, just looking at her.

Elliott waited for a moment to see if he would actually say anything, but when he didn't she glanced to Reese questioningly. He was rubbing his forehead and wincing slightly.

'He had a late night.' he attempted to explain.

'Oh right,' Elliott nodded, and then smiled at Tommy. 'Chasing girls around, huh?'

Tommy just blinked. 'Uh…'

'Mom,' Reese interrupted. 'Actually… I kind of need to ask you something.'

Elliott nodded. 'Okay. Well instead of standing around in the corridor like weirdoes how about you both come downstairs and I'll get you something to eat? I bet the pair of you have been starved in that place. Even if I was minutes from death I wouldn't eat the crap that Edna dishes out.' She nudged Reese towards the stairs and waved Tommy to follow him. 'Come on, Tommy. Don't be shy. How's your mom by the way?'

Tommy moved forward, looking a bit stiff, and followed the other boy down the stairs. 'She's uh… fine.' he managed.

Elliott rose her eyebrows in faint amusement before she followed them. She herded the two visibly uncomfortable boys into the kitchen and sat them at the table. She wondered why they both seemed so twitchy - or at least Reese seemed twitchy, Tommy was just kind of gawping at her. It was actually starting to make her feel a little uncomfortable, so she just chose not to look at him for a while.

'So what brings you two to my neck of the woods, eh?' She shot an amused glance to Reese. 'I bet it's money, eh? Well you're in luck because I've just got a pay rise.' She moved to the cupboard and opened it up, realising that she didn't actually have anything that she could feed them with. She doubted they would eat the rabbit food she kept.

'Actually-' Reese started.

'That'll be why the pair of you were raking around upstairs, huh?' She turned and cocked an eyebrow at the pair of them. 'Scrounging for pennies?'

Tommy finally lost that glazed look and spoke up. 'We were looking for your weddi-'

'Shut _up_, moron!' Reese hissed, elbowing him.

Elliott's smile faltered and was replaced by a look of bemusement. She eyed the two boys, who were now looking down at the table and looking guilty. Although Tommy kept glancing up, not always at her face. 'Okay,' she said, narrowing one eye. 'What are you two up to?'

Reese rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat, deflating visibly. 'We had a run in with this kid at school…' he began, but he didn't get any further.

Tommy straightened up suddenly, wide eyes looking desperate. 'You can't get married, Miss Nixon! Not to that bastard! He doesn't even like you for you, he only wants you for your-'

Reese grabbed him and pulled him roughly back down into his seat, teeth clenched. 'Shut _up_!' he snarled, squeezing Tommy's arm tightly.

Elliott blinked, taken aback. 'What the…' She stopped, tilted her head and laughed nervously. 'Are you two trying to psyche me out or something?'

Reese rubbed his forehead and sighed heavily. Tommy had gotten the hint and had fell silent, rubbing his arm and looking down with red cheeks. 'We were talking to this kid at school today called Hunt Oakley…'

He didn't have to say anymore. Elliott closed her eyes and let her head fall back, releasing an exasperated moan. 'Oh you've got to be kidding me…' she groaned.

'Well he reckons that his uncle only gave you this job because you were getting married to him.' Reese said, looking down at his hands as he picked his fingernails. 'So… well… we wanted to find out if it was true.'

'We figured if you were getting married you'd have a wedding dress.' Tommy piped up, but sharp fell quiet again when he caught sight of the death glare he was receiving from Reese.

Elliott looked at the two of them incredulously. 'Getting marr…' She trailed off, and then felt laughter bubbling up inside of her. It escaped loudly, causing both boys to jump in surprise. '_Married_? To _Cole Oakley_? Oh my God… Oh my…' Laughter racked through her again and she had to rest on the counter. 'Marry that arrogant bastard? Well that's a bit soon considering I only met the man _yesterday_!' She chuckled, wiping at her eyes. 'Jesus Reese, I figured you weren't that gullible. The kid was just trying to rile you up!'

Reese was frowning. He didn't like people hinting that he was being taken for a ride. 'Yeah well he seemed pretty sure about it. Hunt said this guy's looking for someone to get hitched to so it'll make the business look better. The family guy kind of outlook. And if you really _did_ only meet him yesterday, don't you think it's a bit weird that he would give you a job like that? He wouldn't have even had time to check your references.'

Elliott's laughs had now dried up and she was also frowning. She sometimes forgot that Reese thought so much about things. Just like his dad. 'He needed someone to start right away.' she told him. 'And I was one of the first people he met, so I guess it was just chance that he-'

'_Now_ who's been taken for a ride?' Reese retorted bitterly. 'It's obvious, mom. I know what those dumb Preppy kids are like, and I bet this Cole guy is no different. If he doesn't get what he wants he'll fire you, and then you're not going to be able to keep this place, are you?'

Elliott was scowling now. 'You're just a kid, Reese, you don't understand what it's like to work in an office. It's my _job_ to be a secretary for whoever wants me. I have a _contract_. No one can just _fire me_.'

Reese snorted and stood up. 'Whatever, mom.' he muttered. 'Just remember that these Oakley guys are scumbags. Come on, Tommy.'

Elliott sighed and slumped her shoulders. 'Reese, don't storm off!'

He ignored her and headed out of the kitchen, footsteps heavy on the floor of the hall. Tommy stood up from the table and hesitated, blinking rapidly at her. Elliott looked back at him, bemused.

'It's been really uh… really nice seein' you again, Miss Nixon,' he said, rubbing his palms on his shirt. He took a step towards her, holding out a hand. 'I can come back around sometime, y'know, if you need anything doing. I'm pretty handy and with Reese gone at school I guess I could-'

'_Tommy_!' Reese's voice commanded, along with the sound of the front door opening.

Tommy swallowed and returned his hand to his side. He half bowed at Elliott, smiled nervously, and then scurried out of the kitchen. Elliott just stared grimly at the kitchen door, and then leaned against the counter and sighed heavily.

After a few minutes of staring at the back of her eyelids and trying to calm down the irritation running through her, she made her way into the hall and grabbed her handbag, pulling out her cell phone. She stared at it for a moment, before dialling Gary's number.


	17. Teenage Intuition

**A/N: Thanks for the votes on the poll everyone :D I think what I'll do is finish this story, with the reunion and everything, then do one all about Reese, then if there's anything left in these characters we'll see xD It's good to know people are interested though! It keeps me going lol, but I could never abandon this story now, not with poor little Tommy in it xD**

**But yeah, I bet half of you thought I'd forgotten about the reunion xD It's coming soon, and it'll be bringing about the end of the story too. Still I wouldn't be surprised if this story got up to about 30 chapters xD I RAMBLE FAR TOO MUCH DX**

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**Chapter Seventeen**

**Teenage Intuition**

As soon as the two school boys were out of the front door and heading down the garden path, Reese turned and punched the other boy hard in his arm. Tommy let out a yell and rubbed the affected area, looking at Reese in a mixture of bemusement and hurt.

'Dude!' he cried. 'What the hell was that for?'

Reese gritted his teeth and turned on him, fists balled by his sides. 'You're such a freak, Tommy! She's my mom and you were practically creaming your pants in that hallway. And what the hell was all that about in the kitchen? You're lucky I don't beat your ass right here!'

Tommy puffed up, scowling deeply at Reese. 'I'm startin' to get sick of your attitude, buddy. All I've done is help you and all you've done is get on my back and send me runnin' around like a blue assed fly! I was just bein' nice to your mom! Did you just want me to be a complete dick or something?'

'You were a complete dick!' Reese shot back. He shook his head and moved away, running his fingers through his hair. 'You're such a freak Tommy. No wonder you've ended up in charge of a group of retards.'

Tommy moved forward quickly, slugging Reese in the side of his head whilst his back was turned. His fist collided with the other boy's ear, causing him to stumble drunkenly off to the right. Reese cried out, grabbing his ear and turning to stare at Tommy in disbelief.

'What the hell!?' he cried.

'You got anything else to say?' Tommy challenged, holding his arms out. 'C'mon! Call me a retard again. Call me a freak, or a perv, or a damn asshole and I'll break your face.'

Reese chuckled as he rubbed his ear, but there wasn't much humour in it. He glanced briefly to the house, not wanting to get into a fight on his mother's front lawn but not wanting to let Tommy get away with sly punching him like that. 'You couldn't break your own face,' he retorted. 'Now quit being such a baby and let's get away from this house before my mom comes out.'

Tommy glared at him for a little longer before relaxing slightly. He waved a dismissive hand and snorted irritably. 'Whatever. I'm going back to bed anyway. This whole thing sucks balls.'

He headed out of the gate and down the street, pushing his hands in his pockets and muttering under his breath. Reese cast a quick glance to the house, still rubbing his ear that was throbbing painfully, then followed the other boy. He waited until they were a little away from the house before he grabbed Tommy in a headlock and dragged him off the path and into some foliage.

'Hey!' Tommy wailed, flailing his thin arms and legs as Reese hauled him along. 'Get the hell off me you bastard! Reese! Geez!'

Reese pushed him down onto the floor, pulled back his foot, and gave Tommy a swift kick in the groin. Tommy let out a wheeze and slumped back on the grass, face draining of colour. Frowning, Reese prodded at his ear and checked his finger for blood.

'Now we're even.' he said. 'Don't punch me in the ear again, okay Tommy?'

Tommy wheezed something incomprehensible and rolled so he had his back to Reese, curling up in the foetal position. Reese dropped down in the grass beside him, crossing his legs beneath him and leaning on his knees. 'Man I hate those Preppy bastards.' he sighed, their dispute now forgotten. 'I think we should kick the shit out of Hunt when we see him. Or at least try and get someone else to do it.'

Tommy wheezed something, but it was obvious that he still hadn't recovered enough to join the conversation. Reese leaned back on his hands and decided to wait until Tommy was better before continuing. After about six minutes, Tommy finally attempted to sit up. He sat in the grass, his face snow white, with one hand supporting his weight and the other one still tucked between his legs.

'Your mom was probably right,' he said, voice still strained. 'He was just lookin' for a reaction or something.'

Reese nodded. 'Well he got one. But still, I don't like the sound of this Cole Oakley guy. Sounds like a creep to me.'

'But if he's her boss there's not much she can do about it, is there?' Tommy shrugged. 'No that I'm saying she's got no choice but to go with the guy if that's what he's after, but he could cause problems for her.'

Reese stared at a patch of grass, eyes narrowed. 'I still think we should kick Hunt's ass.'

'They all box, dude,' Tommy told him. 'They'll wipe the floor with us. You might have one hell of a kick on you, but there's no way you can beat those guys down. Even all the bullies together have a job taking two of those bastards down. They all ducking and diving… pain in the ass if you ask me.'

Reese sniffed and glanced across to the other boy. 'You feeling okay now?'

Tommy shook his head slightly. 'Five more minutes, man.'

'Well we need to do something about this.' Reese pointed out. 'I don't like the idea of my mom being messed around by some scumbag lawyer Preppy.'

'Well… why don't you talk to your dad?' Tommy suggested.

Reese glanced to him, frowning. 'My dad?'

'Yeah. I mean, I hate the guy, you know I do…'

'You do? I didn't know that.'

'Well I do,' Tommy shrugged. 'And sorry, but I can't help it. Some guys just clash, y'know? And me and that guy, we just don't get along.'

Reese cocked an amused eyebrow. 'You've only spoken him like… once. When you were eleven or something.'

'Well I'm good with first impressions.' Tommy replied quickly. 'I just know we wouldn't get along. Anyway… what I'm getting at is that if you tell your dad what's going on, he might go and kick Cole Oakley's ass so he'll back off your mom. Fair enough your dad might end up in jail or something, but we all know he's gonna end up there sooner or later anyway.'

Reese frowned at the last comment, but the suggestion did set him off thinking. 'My dad could help, I reckon…'

'See, for all you call me a freak and a damn retard, I've got the best ideas.' Tommy grunted as he got to his feet. It took him a few minutes to managed to straighten up, but he did eventually. 'Now I think all this shit can wait until tomorrow. I've got some beauty sleep to be catching up on. And if we're coming out here again tomorrow I need to look my best.'

Reese scowled as he got to his feet. 'Tommy…' he started, warningly.

'I'm kidding!' Tommy groaned. 'Jesus, Reese. I'm starting to think you've got that psychological thing. Y'know… that thing where the kid killed his dad cos he loves his mom or some fucked up shit.'

'Oedipus Complex.' Reese sighed. 'And screw off, Tommy. You're the only one who's got freaky repressed tendencies here.'

The two of them began to make their way back to the path that led back towards the school. Before they headed down it, Reese glanced back along towards his mom's house, only to see something that stopped him in his tracks. Sensing that he wasn't following, Tommy returned to his side, looking along the street.

'Who's that loser?' Tommy asked, screwing his nose up. 'He's definitely over compensating for something with that car.'

Reese frowned at the smooth, sleek, sporty car that was parked outside of Elliott's house. It idled there for a while, before finally the engine died and the door opened. A tall man stepped out, with weirdly styled brown hair and dressed in a smart black suit with a dark blue shirt on beneath. He glanced up and down the street, causing the two boys to automatically step back into the bushes so they had a safe vantage point, and then he circled around to the back of the car.

'Is that Oakley?' Reese asked, voice low.

'He sure looks like an Oakley.' Tommy agreed.

The man, who they were presuming was Cole Oakley, opened the boot of his car and carefully lifted something out. At first they couldn't see what it was, but when he closed the boot again and turned towards the house, they saw it was a large, flat white box.

'What the hell is in there?' Tommy spat, sounding increasingly annoyed. 'Clown shoes?'

'That's a dress box, idiot.' Reese replied distractedly. 'Why the hell is he going up there with…?'

He trailed off, watching as Cole headed up the path and pushed the doorbell. From where they were they wouldn't be able to see Elliott, so Reese tried to move forward. Cole looked up the street again, causing him to shrink back.

'Dude,' Tommy said shaking his head. 'This doesn't look good.'

Reese said nothing and watched. Finally the door opened, and Cole was grinning broadly. He said something, laughed at whatever Elliott responded with, and then showed her whatever was in the box. He laughed again, and seconds later he had gone inside. Reese and Tommy stood and stared, saying nothing for a long moment.

'Your mom totally lied.' Tommy pointed out. 'She's going out with that guy.'

Reese glanced down in thought. 'Well if they're going on a date, it's not going to go well.'

Tommy grinned. 'Shame that.'

The two of them looked at each other, smirking, before heading across the street to wait for the adults leaving the house again.


	18. Out Of Malice

**A/N: This chapter is SO short, so I'm sorry xD But I need to get back to Reese and Tommy lol :P  
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**Chapter Eighteen**

**Out Of Malice**

Elliott's thumb hovered over the call button and she frowned thoughtfully at the phone in her hand. She couldn't believe Reese; why the hell was he so worked up? It wasn't like him to give in to taunting from other kids. From what Elliott had gathered, all this Hunt Oakley kid had done was imply that Cole was after a little more than a secretary. Elliott knew that Cole would like something to happen, she wasn't stupid, but she was pretty sure that wasn't his sole intention.

It was all just so dumb. Why was she getting so worked up about it?

I'll tell you why, a voice in the back of her mind muttered. Because you've known this guy two days and he's already managed to freak Reese out, and let's not forget that interruption.

Elliott felt her cheeks flush a little at the memory. She hadn't spoken to Gary since he had left yesterday. Actually she had completely forgotten about the whole thing, what with the hectic phone calls, Cole's dinner proposal and now Reese's weird behaviour. And she was just going to ring him to tell him that Reese thought she was going to get married? What the hell would Gary have to say to that? She would be winding him up.

But then again he could be waiting for her to call him.

But then again it was no good calling him when she was supposed to be going out for dinner with her boss.

But then again it seemed she had already dialled his number.

Before she could quickly hang up and claim wrong number by text message, someone answered at the other end. The only reason Elliott knew that was because the screen told her so, she didn't actually have the phone to her ear. Cursing herself for apparently having no control over her fingers, she put the phone to her ear and trudged into the living room.

'Hello?' Gary was saying, sounding… well… he didn't sound very happy. In fact he sounded downright irritated.

'Gary?' Elliott winced, perching on the couch.

'Oh. Hi.'

She waited for more, but didn't get any. There was something strange about his tone, almost familiar. 'Um, I just thought I'd call to see… well…' She didn't want to say to see if you're okay, because that would imply that last night had upset him some how, and Gary didn't like people thinking he was upset. 'Reese just came round.' She said instead. 'School's going okay, I think. He hasn't got any black eyes or anything, so…'

'Yeah?' Gary replied, still in the same tone. 'Well he was always going to be all right. He's smart.'

Elliott frowned vaguely. She suddenly recognised that tone; it was boredom. He also sounded fidgety. 'He's been hanging out with that Tommy kid. Do you remember him?'

'Nope.' He hadn't even taken the time to remember.

Elliott rubbed her forehead, trying to ignore the thought that kept rising up in the front of her mind; a thought that seemed adamant on concentrating on Gary's current medication. 'Um… I thought maybe we could meet up. Tomorrow, or something. To… y'know… talk?'  
There was a clicking sound down the phone, followed by the sound of Gary swapping ears with the phone. 'Oh yeah? About what?'

Elliott restrained a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. Something was definitely up, and he was trying to make this hard. Did Cole's interruption really piss him off that much? It wasn't like it was her fault. 'You know what?' she sighed. 'You're obviously busy, or something. So… I'll call later.'

'Talk,' he said airily, ignoring her. 'Yeah, the talk. I thought it was due, wasn't it? The talk where you play on how stressful your life is and that you can't possibly deal with the complications of me, even though you seem adamant to not let me go off and make my own life for myself. That is what you want to talk about, isn't it?' He chuckled lightly, a familiar sound that made her shudder. 'You've always been the same, Elliott. You just like the drama. It was the only reason you kept talking to me at school, and it's the only reason you call Jimmy every couple of months to make sure he's still thinking about you, and it's the only reason you call me up instead of your buddies who literally live a few doors away when something goes wrong. So you want to talk about that? I can come over right now and we can trash it out if you want, but I know how it'll end. It'll end with me looking like a moron and you content that there's someone still wandering around with you on their mind. So is that it, Elliott? Is that what you want to happen?'

Elliott blinked, mouth hanging open and silent. The unexpected outburst had stunned her and she had nothing to say. She gaped for a little longer before managing a, 'I…'

'Good to hear you agree,' Gary replied, sounding angry. 'Do me a favour, Elle. Don't call me unless you actually know what you're going to say, okay?'

A frown finally made its way onto Elliott's face. 'Gary, what the hell-'

But he had hung up. Elliott listened to the dial tone for a long moment, bewildered to what just happened. Then anger surged up and she hurled the phone away. 'Jerk!' she cried, furious. 'Total, fucking-'  
_  
BUUUUUZZZZZZZ_

The shrill sound of her doorbell only annoyed her further and she stood up, storming to the front door. Without fully thinking, she hauled the door open and scowled.

'What?' she snapped, then instantly regretted it.

Cole grinned. 'You weren't expecting someone else were you?' He smiled lopsidedly before holding out a white box to her.

Elliott looked at him for a moment, blinking. Then, still angry from Gary's unprovoked words, she thought; Why not?


	19. Set Backs In Setting Out

**A/N: For the time it's taken me to finish this chapter, if should be a lot longer xD I need to get to the frigging reunion soon, soon as this dinner fiasco is over and done with xDD

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**Chapter Nineteen**

**Set Backs In Setting Out**

Reese was getting sick of sitting in the bushes. There were tiny bugs swarming above his head - those irritating little things that just seem to forever fly in dumb circles in the most irritating place they can find. There were old twigs and dead leaves making his seat uncomfortable, and the various branches that prodded his head and snagged his sweater didn't help matters much either.

Tommy, on the other hand, seemed quite content. He sat cross-legged, scraping the bark off an old twig with his fingernails and intently watching the house across the street. Regarding him it was quite easy to believe he did this sort of thing a lot. Then again it _was_ Tommy. He probably did this kind of thing all the time. Probably in this exact spot.

'They've sure been in there a long time.' Tommy pointed out after a long silence. 'Maybe he had pizza in the box or something and they're staying in.'

Reese frowned. 'Dude, do the Oakley's really strike you as the kind of people to hang around indoors eating pizza?'

Tommy hesitated. 'Um… caviar pizza maybe?'

Reese stroked his chin thoughtfully, watching the windows. There was no movement in the front room and (thankfully) no movement in the bedrooms upstairs. Which left the kitchen, meaning they were probably just having a coffee before they left. But it was still a long time just for coffee…

The obvious hit him and he rubbed his face.

'She's getting dressed to go out.' he groaned. 'Oakley brought the dress and she's probably changing and showering and whatever. That's why they're taking so long.'

Tommy turned a wide eyed look to him. 'She'd shower with some guy in the house?'

Reese hesitated. 'It's not like he's gonna do anything without her… y'know… saying yeah.'

Tommy shook his head and leaned back on his hands. 'Dude, you don't know. I mean, you hear about these rich guys just doing whatever and _whoever_ the hell they like, then they just bribe the judge and skip off to do it again.' He hesitated, eyeing the house. 'I think we should bust in there. Save her from that slime ball.'

Reese rolled his eyes. 'Don't be such a moron.'

Tommy shrugged and started to stand up. 'Well you can stay here, but I'm not going to sit here while that bastard could be doing God only knows what-'

Reese grabbed him and yanked him back down when there was movement from the house. '_Sshh_!' he hissed, and gently pushed aside some of the foliage to see the house clearer. Tommy hunkered down, head close to Reese's, and watched also.

The front door opened, and out stepped Cole Oakley. He was in the middle of pulling on his jacket, now minus the white box, and still harbouring that bright, professionally fake grin. He was saying something, but his voice was lost in the sound of cars on the road around the corner. Behind him Elliott emerged.

'Damn.' Tommy muttered, drawing a sharp elbow in the ribs from Reese.

Elliott was dressed in a red dress, thin straps over her shoulders and the hem just brushing the tops of her knees, with black court shoes on her feet and a small black clutch-purse in her hand. She turned and smiled at Cole as she was locking the door, but she didn't say anything in return. Actually it didn't look like she would be able to get a word in edgeways. Whatever Cole was talking about, he was on a roll.

'He's brainwashed her.' Tommy muttered.

'Will you _shut up_?' Reese snarled.

Tommy muttered something under his breath but did as he was told. They both watched as the adults walked along the garden path and onto the street, towards Cole's parked car. Cole practically skipped to the passenger door, pulling it open and stepping aside. Looking deeply uncomfortable, Elliott smiled awkwardly and got inside. Cole closed the door and made his way around to the drivers side, taking a moment to glance around the street. A second later and the car was pulling away.

'Dude, now what?' Tommy asked. 'Unless you've got a moped tucked away in your pants we're not going to be able to keep up with them.'

'They'll be going to Bullworth Vale,' Reese replied, crawling out of their hiding place. 'It won't be that hard to find Cole's car down there. Plus I just wanted to see if she really was going with him.' He stood up on the sidewalk and looked in the direction the car had gone. He frowned deeply and ran his hand through his hair. 'Why did she lie about it, Tommy? She pretty much said she hated that guy, but she's going off with him in his dumb car in a dumb dress he bought for her?'

'I didn't think it was a dumb dress.' Tommy replied, brushing dried leaves from his jeans.

'She's not getting wrapped up in Preppies.' Reese said firmly. 'There's no way I'm having anything to do with those scumbags. I thought my mom had better taste than that…' He trailed off, suddenly experiencing a very strong sense of being watched. He glanced around to Tommy, but he was too busy picking at something on his shirt. But then Reese noticed someone else just behind Tommy.

'So you guys like to hang out in bushes together, huh?' Taylor grinned, reaching out to pluck a twig from Tommy's hair. 'Kinky.'

Tommy jumped and let out a startled cry, retreating quickly behind Reese. 'Where the hell did you come from?' he cried, alarmed. Neither of the two boys had heard her approaching.

'I'm part ninja,' Taylor claimed, fiddling with the twig she had salvaged from Tommy's hair. 'So what are you two studs up to? I've spent most of the morning looking for you, you know. Got bored at around lunchtime. The last place I expected to find you both was in a hedge though.'

Reese didn't even bother to tell her to go away. He shook his head irritably and headed across the street towards his house. Tommy followed him closely, casting wary glances to the grey eyed girl. 'Get lost, freak,' he told her nastily. 'There's no puppies around for you to eat.'

Taylor followed them, hands clasped behind her back. 'You'll do, Tommy.' she smirked, then winked.

Reese broke away from Tommy and headed towards the garage, raking his keys out of his pocket. Elliott had given him a set as soon as they moved in, apparently forgetting that he wasn't actually going to be living there. He flicked through the set until he came to a small silver key, and then squatted down to use it to unlock the garage door.

'Reese, can't you tell her to go away?' Tommy whined. 'She just turns everything I say into some perverted joke.'

Reese snorted as he rolled up the shutter. 'Like you don't do that to every girl you talk to.' he muttered. He headed into the garage, towards a lumpy sheet of blue tarp, and whipped it off.

Perplexed by Reese's attitude, Tommy walked into the garage with a frown on his face. Taylor lingered outside as if she was waiting for an invitation to enter. She paced, eyeing Tommy like a wild animal that was hunting for nothing other than fun.

'Dude, chase her already.' Tommy muttered. 'You don't want her knowing where you live.'

'No, you don't want her knowing where _you _live, Tommy,' Reese sighed. 'Look, I've got more important things to be worrying about than this crap. Are you coming down to the Vale with me or do you want to stand here and get all hot and sweaty with Lady Pain over there?' He grabbed his teal BMX, his pride and joy. He had been working on it for the past three years, using parts that he got for free from Jimmy's garage. He jerked his head to his older, neglected red BMX. 'You can take that one.'

'What about me?' Taylor asked, smirking. 'I hope you're not expecting me to run alongside.'

Tommy grabbed the older bike, looking irritated by Taylor's mere presence. 'Take a hint, fruitcake. We don't want you around, so just-'

Reese swung his leg over his own bike. 'You can get on the back of mine.' he sighed. 'Just stand on the stunt pegs.'

Tommy turned and gaped at him like he had just suggested they should get naked and play naked Twister. After a few seconds of opening and shutting his mouth, he finally managed, 'Dude!'

Reese rolled out of the garage and stopped beside Taylor. 'C'mon man, she'll only catch up with us in town. Stop being such a moron anyway, she's only trying to get a rise out of you.'

Taylor's tongue flicked over her teeth and she winked at Tommy. 'I bet I could get a more than a rise.'

Reese just rolled his eyes as he felt her climb onto the back of the back, her warm, claw-like hands holding onto his shoulders. She glanced back at Tommy, who was standing in the garage and holding onto the red BMX, showing no signs of following.

'Tommy, don't be such a woman. Come on.' Reese sighed.

But Tommy was looking past Reese. With a frown, Reese turned to look at what fascinated Tommy so much. When he saw the man at the end of the drive, he straightened up and blinked. Behind him Taylor cocked her head curiously.

Gary frowned vaguely at the three kids on the driveway. He looked a little paler than usual, his eyebrows drawn together and dark circles under his eyes. He looked uncomfortable at the sight of them, but Reese knew that it was probably because they were in Bullworth Academy uniforms. He knew his dad still got a little fidgety on the subject of that place.

After a moment of saying nothing, he awkwardly cleared his throat. 'Shouldn't you be at school?' he asked.

Reese blinked. 'Uh… classes are over.'

Gary nodded. His eyes moved to the house. 'Uh, is your mom in?'

Tommy finally got on the bike and pedalled out of the garage and onto the road, where he began to ride around in a slow, lazy circle, sensing and not liking the awkwardness that had arisen. Reese wished he could join him, because he knew that Gary wasn't going to like what he was about to hear. He could easily tell him something completely different, but Reese didn't like lying.

So he told the truth.


	20. Anywhere But Here

**A/N: Should I keep the current format of Elliott - Reese chapters, or should I start putting in chapters from other character's POV?  
**

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**Chapter Twenty**

**Anywhere But Here**

It was a funny thing really. Elliott had always hated Bullworth Vale. She despised the pompous attitude of the residents; she had hated the way they looked at her every time she had walked out of the kitchen in the seafood restaurant where she had washed dishes for a living. She hated watching prim and pretty housewives spending a fortune on pointless herbs and vegetables outside of Yum Yums to make their rich husbands fancy meals when they got home from screwing their secretaries all day.

But if she hated it so much, why had she worked so hard to get a house here? She could have gotten an apartment in Bullworth Town and been perfectly happy. Jimmy lived in Bullworth Town and he earned a hell of a lot more money than she did. In fact that probably would have worked out better because she would have been closer to work. But that thought hadn't even struck her. She had been so adamant to get a place in the Vale that she forgot her hate for it.

But now, sitting in the passenger seat of Cole Oakley's fancy sleek car, dressed in a brand new Aquaberry dress that still smelled of the store, Elliott realised that she was now one of these pretentious Vale residents. She may not be old money or even rich, but while she was in the company of an Oakley, she was a Preppie.

She shook her head vaguely and massaged the bridge of her nose. Preppy. God, why was she still calling them that? She wasn't a kid anymore. But it was hard to think of them in any other light.

'Something wrong?'

Elliott glanced around, eyes narrowed against the warm air that whipped around her in the top-down car. She had to hold all of her hair in a ponytail to stop it flying all over the place. Cole's hair, on the other hand, didn't move an inch. He glanced at her quickly, but didn't take his eyes off the road for too long.

'You're very quiet.' He pointed out. 'Is there something wrong?'

'Oh no,' Elliott smiled. 'Nothing wrong. I guess I'm just a bit... uh... tired.'

'Well I'm not surprised; you put a lot of hard work in today. I'm booked solid for four months. My last secretary used to get overwhelmed after booking up a month. But then again she could barely speak English.' He checked his mirrors and turned the corner onto the steep hill that rolled down towards the seafront. 'I've got to admit I've been very surprised with you, Elliott. It's difficult to find a hardworking, pretty young woman these days.'

Elliott glanced out of her side of the car. She didn't feel like responding to dumb compliments, but it would be rude not to. 'Well it wouldn't be very good it I didn't do the job I was getting paid for. Especially since it's so much money.'

Cole chuckled, the comment obviously amusing him. 'Well you make my office look presentable, I can tell you that. I apologise for coming across so shallow and I hope I don't offend you, but I initially employed you for your appearance. I get a lot of... well... older gentlemen coming into the office and it doesn't hurt for them to see a smiling, young face when they come through the door. Not that I didn't think you were going to be good or anything...'

Elliott shifted uncomfortably. 'I'm sure how I look isn't really important...'

'Of course it is.' Cole flashed a bright smile. 'At my office in LA I had a young man working for me. Absolutely excellent at his job, always on time, but I lost twenty percent of my client base within a month.'

Elliott figured that she better prepare herself for a bunch of lecherous, pervy old men when his clients started turning up. Great, as if it wasn't bad enough that her boss was already like that. Although... since Cole had turned up on the doorstep with the fancy dress and his talks of the best place to go for dinner, Elliott had decided that he really wasn't all that bad. Okay, so he was pretty forward, and he did have a faintly sleazy aura about him, but he was polite and pleasant. Maybe she just initially disliked him because she wasn't used to guys like him? She was used to tough, mouthy guys like Jimmy, or the more broody, sarcastic Gary.

Her eyebrows came together sharply at the thought of him. She still couldn't figure out why he had been such a dick on the phone. The angry part of her hoped that he would see her out with Cole tonight, but it was unlikely he would be anywhere near the Vale. He hated it just as much as she did. Or as much as she used to, apparently.

'So where would you like to go? Granted there's not much choice in this town, but there's about four we can choose from.' Cole turned onto the road that ran adjacent to the beach and slowed. 'There's the seafood restaurant, I've always been a bit partial to that place myself-'

'Uh, I kinda don't like seafood.' Elliott said quickly, remembering her days there in the kitchen. She turned to him and shrugged. 'How about the Mexican place?'

Cole contemplated for a moment, and then nodded. 'Good choice.'

But then, expectantly, nice Elliott decided to poke her nose in. The Elliott that couldn't bear to go somewhere if she thought the other person didn't want to. She hated that Elliott, but she didn't seem to have any control over it. 'If you'd rather go to the seafood place we could go there... I'm sure they do other things than seafood.'

Cole pulled up to the curb and killed the engine. 'What would be the point of going to a place that you don't like? Come on, you said Mexican so Mexican it is. Plus, I had fish yesterday. We all need a bit of variety in life, don't we?'

He gave her another one of his big flashy smiles, and then climbed out of the car. Elliott reached down for her purse on the floor between her feet and reached out to open the door, but before she could it opened for her. She glanced up, bemused, to see Cole holding it open.

_What's this?_ She thought, mildly annoyed. _Doesn't he think I can open the car door on my own? Think I'll scratch it or something?_

Despite her irritation, she climbed out and smiled. Without a word she moved onto the sidewalk, now suddenly wanting to get out of the open. She felt self-conscious in the dress and suddenly very aware of how small a town Bullworth was. Practically everyone knew who she was; the weirdo girl that popped a kid at school and spent most of her life slumming it in New Coventry. _Everyone_ knew who Cole was; the town's best lawyer. Not exactly a pair you would expect to see knocking elbows.

But Cole seemed to be taking his time. His cell phone had appeared and he was tapping away on it. Elliott stood by the car, waiting for him awkwardly. 'Sorry about this.' He told her. 'I get this a lot. Clients who think I'm their personal therapist or something. I'm serious, this one guy used to call me every night to tell me about how he thought his wife was cheating on him.' He shook his head and chuckled. 'There's some nutcases around.'

Elliott smiled wanly. 'You can say that again.'

Cole frowned as his phone began buzzing. 'God damn it...' he muttered. He looked to her apologetically. 'I'm so sorry about this Elliott. I wish I'd left this at home. If you want to go inside and get a table I'll be right in.'

'I can just, uh... wait here.' Elliott replied, the thought of heading inside on her own was even more daunting than standing in the street.

Cole nodded, answered his phone, and moved away to the other side of the car. Elliott remained where she was, feeling ridiculously awkward. There were a couple of Bullworth Academy kids across the street, watching her and muttering amongst themselves. Bullies, they looked like. She contemplated just turning around and running off home, getting away from the seafront altogether, but she knew she wouldn't get far in her shoes if that was even a realistic option.

'Elliott?'

Elliott's ears perked up and she glanced around to see who had collared her standing in the middle of the sidewalk like a hooker. She blinked twice at the person beside her, and then felt herself smiling. 'Jimmy!'

Jimmy smiled back and set down a rather heavy box he had been carrying in his arms. She hadn't seen him in a while, but he certainly hadn't changed much. His hair was longer; in more of a shaggy style than his usual buzz cut. Elliott had never liked it when he grew his hair out, but it wasn't really her place to say that anymore.

'How are you?' she smiled, surprised at how pleased she was to see him. 'I've been meaning to come down to the garage for so long, but you know what I'm like for getting things done.'

'I'm great,' Jimmy nodded in response. 'But if you'd gone down to the garage you would have only been saying hi to Johnny and Peanut. I've been out of town for a few weeks. My mom's just got married.' He paused, and added; 'Again.'

Elliott laughed lightly. Jimmy's mother certainly had an impressive track record of husbands. Whilst Elliott had been with him she had managed to marry and divorce another four men. Well three technically, one had a heart attack on their honeymoon. Not particularly surprising considering that he had been pushing eighty.

'So how've you been?' Jimmy asked, eyes briefly going down to her dress. He had obviously figured out that she was on a date of some sort – it didn't take a genius to figure that one out, but he wasn't going to openly ask about it. 'Reese has started the Academy, hasn't he?'

'Oh yeah,' Elliott nodded, remembering the drama with him earlier. 'He seems to be taking okay to it. He's got some friends I think. You remember that Tommy kid? Tommy Jackson?'

Jimmy grimaced. 'Oh yeah, how could I forget that kid? Geez even at ten he was a little creep. I don't want to know what he's like now.'

'He's a character, I'll give him that.' She agreed, glancing around to see where Cole had gotten too. She almost didn't want Jimmy to see that she was out with him, but it was going to be inevitable. 'So what are you doing creeping around the Vale? I thought you hated it here.'

Jimmy nodded. 'I do, but I had to come down to the bike store and pick up some parts. I sent Johnny yesterday but you know him. About as useful as screen door on a submarine. That's why I'm here so late anyway.' He half smiled and gestured to her dress. 'So who's the lucky guy, huh?'

'Oh it's not like that,' Elliott shook her head. 'I'm out with my new boss. You've probably heard of him actually, he's-'

'Jimmy Hopkins!' Cole's voice burst its way into the conversation suddenly and he materialised beside Elliott, making her jump. He was grinning from ear to ear and slapped a hand on the shoulder of a rather startled Jimmy. 'How are you my friend? How's the garage coming along?'

When Jimmy had finally gotten over his surprise, he nodded. He didn't smile, but Jimmy wasn't a smiler. 'It's cool. I didn't realise you were back in town.'

'And I didn't realise you two knew each other,' Cole said, yellow eyes flicking between the other two adults over the top of his broad grin. 'But then again I'm sure there aren't many people in this town who don't know you, James.'

Elliott refrained from grimacing. Why the hell was Cole sucking up to Jimmy? By Jimmy's expression he was thinking the exact same thing. 'We went to school together.' Elliott told him, deciding to leave out the details for now.

'Jimmy here did a fantastic job of tuning up my old banger,' Cole said proudly, gesturing to his car by the sidewalk. 'Runs like a dream now. You and those two grease monkeys are sure good at what you do.' He laughed, obviously calling them grease monkeys as a joke, but apparently didn't notice Jimmy frowning at the comment. 'Have you ever thought of shifting the garage out of New Coventry? One of my clients is selling a plot of land by the fire station in Bullworth Town. I bet that if you shift the garage there you'll get noticed a hell of a lot more.'

Jimmy was frowning slightly. 'We're fine where we are, thanks.'

'Are you sure? Well I'll mention it anyway just in case you change your mind.' Cole turned to Elliott and smiled. 'Ready to go inside?'

Elliott blinked. 'Um... sure.' She looked to Jimmy, feeling a little bemused at how Cole had managed to dismiss Jimmy within a few sentences. Jimmy looked equally as bemused. 'Well I guess I'll see you later, Jimmy.'

Jimmy nodded, still eyeing Cole uncertainly. 'Yeah. Tell Reese to come down the garage some time. Johnny's got some new bike parts for him.' He picked up the heavy box at his feet and nodded to the two of them. 'Have a good night, then.'

'We will.' Cole nodded, answering before Elliott could. She felt his hand on the small of her back as he urged her to go to the restaurant. 'Nice seeing you, James.'

'Uh yeah...' Jimmy muttered, one eyebrow raised. He half shrugged at Elliott, who returned the gesture, and then headed off up the street.

'He's a good man, Hopkins,' Cole said, almost fondly. 'A bit rough, but I guess you've got to be ready to get your hands dirty in the business world.'

Elliott just made an indifferent noise as she approached the doors of the restaurant. She had the strangest feeling that this night was going to _drag_.


	21. Guilt Tripped

**A/N: I need one more vote on my poll before I close it xD  
**

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**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Guilt Tripped**

Something wasn't quite right here. Reese could see that easily because he had a good eye, but it was obvious that something was wrong. Even Tommy had noticed it, and he generally didn't notice anything that didn't have fluttering eyelashes or a skirt. Tommy had abandoned the drive for the middle of the road, and was now weaving lazily on the bicycle, watching Reese warily. Taylor had also abandoned his side to perch herself on a wall across the street, where she watched Tommy like a hungry vulture.

Gary looked terrible. He was pale, his eyes were slightly bloodshot and he was twitching like he had a low electric current running through the top half of his body. His eyes were darting back and forth from Reese to the house, then back to Reese, like he was half expecting Elliott to pop her head out of the window and prove that his son was lying to him.

'Out then huh?' he asked, flicking his nose jerkily with his thumb. 'Yeah I guessed so. Suppose the draw of all that green was too much for her.'

Reese narrowed one eye at his father. He was acting like a junkie from Blue Skies; shifting from foot to foot and compulsively rubbing his arm or the back of his neck. But Reese knew that Gary wasn't acting like this because of drugs, it was because of the _lack_ of drugs.

'That's the thing about your mom, kid,' Gary half chuckled, starting to pace and then stopping abruptly. 'She's easily influenced. Stick a bag of crap in a wig in front of her and tell her she wants it, and after a while she'll be convinced she does. And if it's a persuasive guy like Cole Oakley... well, she doesn't have a chance in hell. He could probably convince her to jump off a bridge with an umbrella.'

Reese frowned. 'Don't be ragging on my mom.'

Gary chuckled and shook his head. 'I'm not, Reese, I'm not. I'm telling you the truth. Jeez you know that better than anyone. '

He reached out to prod Reese in his shoulder, but the teen took a step back. Tommy slowed down, head lifting up, and watched like he was expecting a fight to break out. Even Taylor had given up watching him and was now curiously peering at the two dark haired males on the drive. Gary smirked at Reese's reaction to him and glanced towards the house again. Instantly his smirk vanished and was replaced by a worried, exhausted look.

'She's gone out with Cole Oakley then, huh?' he mused aloud. 'Figures.' He cocked an eyebrow at Reese. 'They gone to the Vale?'

Reese shrugged, not liking the weird gleam in his father's eye. 'I don't know,' he lied. 'They were in the car so they could have gone to the next town over or something.'

Gary laughed and glanced around at the other teenagers. 'Like you and your little cronies weren't getting ready to head down to the Vale and crash their little date. You got your smarts from me, Reese, so don't try to pull one on me. I would have done the exact same thing... Well, I would have gotten someone else to do the exact same thing.'

'What do you care anyway?' Reese asked, suddenly annoyed by his father's behaviour and the fact his lie had been called out. It didn't seem to matter that it wasn't long ago when he was adamant at putting an end to Elliott and Cole's date. Since Gary had turned up and been so much of an asshole about it, he realised he wanted to defend them. 'So what if mom's off out with some guy? It's not like you're married or something. She didn't turn up at your place and start spouting crap when you were seeing that skanky tramp from New Coventry.'

Gary's eyes darkened. That was a topic that had generally gone ignored until now. A few months ago Reese had seen him out in a bar in New Coventry with some slut, the bar of them drunk off their faces and all over each other. The slut was a well known tramp, one of the Lombardi clan. Not all of them had been as lucky as Lola Lombardi – she had bagged herself a 94 year old millionaire in LA. But whether Gary had just picked her up for the night or it had been a regular thing, Reese didn't know. And frankly, he didn't care.

'You need to let it go, man,' Reese went on, shaking his head. 'It's pretty pathetic really. You were dating at _school_. That was like... half your life ago, and you still come sniffing around here like some great big loser and whining when she goes out with someone.' Now it was his turn to chuckle, and it sounded unsettlingly like Gary's. 'You're like, what, thirty? And you _still_ can't just go ahead and tell her? Not that she'd care the way you look now. When was the last time you took your meds, huh dad?'

Gary was scowling deeply, his frame now rigid instead of jerky. After a moment of clenching and unclenching his jaw, he managed to force a smirk and a thin laugh. 'Since when did you become such a smart-ass?'

'I guess it's just another wonderful personality trait I got from you.' Reese replied. 'You better not hang around waiting for her to come back. It's got screw all to do with you where she is or who she's with, so if you try and make her feel bad about it I'll kick your ass.'

Gary laughed loudly. 'You'll what?' he asked, cupping his hand around his ear. 'Jeez, Reese. You're starting to sound like Jimmy frigging Hopkins.'

Reese drew his eyebrows together sharply. 'Yeah, well I guess you pick up stuff like that from someone who was your dad for ten years. At least Jimmy was a good parent.'

Head shot. Gary was silenced. He stared incredulously at Reese for a long moment. Tommy had come to a stop in the middle of the road, gawping at them. Taylor was grinning broadly, eyes gleaming and probably wishing for a fight.

After what seemed like forever to Reese, Gary blinked. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Then his eyebrows came together and he shook his head, waving a dismissive hand. 'Whatever.' He muttered, and then turned and stalked away down the street.

Reese watched after him, feeling strangely anxious. He had been in arguments before, but never with his dad. The guy had such an intense stare; you could never figure out whether he was going to laugh at you or try and pop your eyes out. He felt bad for saying that about Jimmy; Reese was well aware that Gary was still raw about the fact that Jimmy Hopkins had practically raised _his_ kid, but... well... he had been a jerk. Something needed to be said to knock him off his high horse.

'Dude. That was intense.' Tommy commented, coming up beside Reese on the bike. 'I thought you two were gonna start brawling or something. Just so you know, I would have totally been right there beside you if it had.'

Reese eyed him. 'Yeah, whatever Tommy.' He turned around and picked up his bike from where he had put it down on the drive. 'Come on. It's getting late and I want to get down to the Vale.'

Tommy grinned. 'Awesome. Oh man, I can't wait to get down there. What should we do, huh? I think we should get some crabs and shit and dump them in his fancy car. Maybe put one in the glove box for when the posing loser goes to get his sunglasses out.'

Reese shot him an irritated look. He was in a bad mood now, and Tommy wasn't the best person to have around when you're in a bad mood. 'Why the hell would he be wearing sunglasses? It's dark.'

Tommy paused and considered this. 'Well... we could always just pay a tramp to puke in it. I've seen this guy in Blue Skies, right, he can barf on demand. Seriously, go down and offer him a dollar and he'll spew right there in front of you.' He chuckled and shook his head. 'Awesome...' His expression suddenly changed to one of discomfort and he glanced around.

Taylor had rejoined them. 'You should have totally fought with your dad,' she smirked at Reese. 'Maybe ripped each other's shirts off or something. Rub some baby oil on or something.'

'If you're coming then I want you to be quiet.' Reese told her. 'Get on the bike and shut the hell up.'

'Ooh, dominating.' Taylor giggled, stepping onto the stunt pegs on the back of Reese's BMX. 'I like the more submissive kind.' She reached out and ruffled Tommy's hair, making him recoil and almost fall off his bike.

'Let's get going already,' Tommy frowned, cycling ahead. 'I've got a million and one ideas of how we can trash this date.'

Reese shook his head as he got his foot on the pedal. 'We're not trashing it anymore, Tommy.'

Tommy turned and gaped at him. 'What? Why the hell not?'

Reese started pedalling with Taylor gripping onto his shoulders. 'We're gonna make sure nothing goes wrong. Got that? This date is gonna go perfectly.' He began to pedal towards the Vale with his passenger standing on the back. Tommy stared after them, jaw open, then finally muttered a curse and followed.


	22. Arrangements

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Arrangements**

Food wasn't really Elliott's speciality, so upon being faced with a list of Mexican dishes, she wasn't sure what to think. The only thing she was sure that she wanted was the wine, but she couldn't really order a bottle of wine for her starter and her main. Although she was tempted to try it.

The restaurant was nice; very cosy with warm terracotta colours on the walls and smooth wooden tables that were set quite close together. If the place had been full then no doubt the two of them would be sitting elbow to elbow with other diners, but they had their own corner. That was probably due to Cole's influence, but either way Elliott wasn't really complaining. She hated being crowded when she was eating.

'So what do you fancy?' Cole asked her, eyes running over his own menu.

Elliott blinked. She had no idea. She didn't want to order something just for it to turn out to be something gross, or something ridiculously spicy. But at the same time she didn't want to admit the fact that she had no idea what anything was. Mexican food wasn't particularly complicated; or at least she didn't think so. Actually, come to think of it, she had no idea what Mexican food entailed. Maybe they should have just gone to the seafood restaurant. At least then she would know what to avoid.

'I'm not sure,' she said, half wincing. 'I've never eaten in here before so I'm not sure what's good.'

Cole beamed at her. 'Well if you want I could order for you?'

Easy way to get out of bumbling through the menu, Elliott figured. 'Okay.' she said, closing the menu. 'I'm sorry but you'll have to bear with me. I don't really go out like this. It's been months since I've been down the Vale for a meal.' And it had been. She and Courtney had come down for dinner, but as always with her the meal had turned into a winefest.

'Don't worry about it,' Cole replied. 'It's a nice change. And it's also nice to be with someone who doesn't order the most expensive or complicated thing on the menu just to impress.'

Elliott half laughed. 'Well I've always believed in cheapness.' Immediately she scolded herself. Had she just implied that she was cheap? Real smooth.

Cole just smiled and put the menu aside, glancing around for a waiter. As soon as the young dark haired man saw him set the menu down, he came scurrying across the restaurant weaving between the tables and scribbling on his notebook. He asked Cole what he would like to order, and Cole went on to recite several things that Elliott was totally unfamiliar with. The only word she recognised was tortilla. She had a horrible feeling it was going to be something disgusting, but she would have to choke it down to keep from offending him.

Finally the waiter retreated again, heading for the kitchen armed with Cole's precious order. Cole pulled off his suit jacket and hooked it on the back of his chair.

'Hope you're not starving hungry.' he smiled at her. 'It takes a little while to cook what I ordered for us.'

'That's okay,' Elliott shrugged. 'I can wait.' But she didn't particularly want to. She wished she had just ordered a salad, then they could have left sooner.

'I might as well get to the point,' Cole sighed, leaning forward slightly. 'I do have a proposal I wanted to talk to you about.'

Elliott's eyebrows lifted at the word. After the drama she had had with Reese over her supposedly getting married to Cole, the word wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear. 'Oh really?' she almost squeaked.

'Well,' Cole went on, getting into business-man mode. He rested his elbows on the table and put his fingertips together, reminding Elliott of some kind of evil genius. She almost laughed. 'You're probably aware that I have a huge client base all over the country, not just here in Bullworth.'

Elliott nodded. 'Yeah I figured that.'

'At the weekend my biggest client is going to be coming into town. He's here for other business, so it's probable that he won't have time to come into the office and discuss things with me, so the only way we get to have a chat is for me to tag along with him. Saves a lot of ferrying around on both of our parts.'

Elliott narrowed one eye thoughtfully. 'This weekend?' She asked. 'It's the Bullworth Academy reunion this weekend.'

Cole smiled and nodded. 'Yes, I was just about to get to that. That's what he's coming into town for. You might have heard of him actually. Well of course you will have, he's in congress. Derby Harrington?'

Elliott refrained a groan. 'Oh yeah, I know him.'

'You do?' Cole cocked an eyebrow.

'Well yeah.' Elliott nodded. 'I went to that school.'

Cole blinked at her, and then smiled brightly. 'Oh, so you'll already be going to the reunion, are you?'

Well the plan had been to go. With Gary, apparently, but she didn't think that was going to happen. And she didn't particularly find the idea of going on her own all that appealing. 'Well I got an invitation…' she started.

'Well that's wonderful,' Cole smiled happily. 'I've arranged to attend that reunion myself so I can spend some sociable time with my clients. A man can't really attend these things alone, so it would work out quite nicely if you were to accompany me. And seeing as you're already going…'

Elliott felt like she had a ball of lead in her stomach. He was going to the reunion? Seriously? How was it that this guy had managed to muscle in to all aspects of her life in about forty eight hours? It was insane. He had just appeared out of the blue, and suddenly he was there constantly. 'Well I wasn't sure if I was actually going to go…'

Cole chuckled. 'Really? Oh I would never miss up on an opportunity to see my old school friends. It's the curiosity that does it for me. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing the biggest, most popular kid in the school turning up in a raggy suit and stinking of alcohol. It sounds shallow, but we all enjoy shallow pleasures, don't we?'

Elliott had to agree with him there. She would love to see Mandy Wiles with a fat ass, or Ted Thompson with a beer gut. 'Well if I'm honest, I'd arranged to go there with Gary. We were in the same year at school.'

Cole glanced at her curiously. 'Gary? Oh, Reese's father? Well that makes sense. I don't want to crash on that party…'

'Well I don't think he's going anymore.' Elliott shrugged.

'Oh really? Why not?'

She found his curiosity irritating. He was prying into hers and Gary's relationship, she could tell. But she had basically dragged him into the conversation, so she couldn't really complain. All she needed to do was change the subject. 'He got a new job or something. He never really liked school anyway.' She glanced up as the waiter arrived, armed with the wine, and almost laughed with relief. She needed a drink.

'Well I suppose it can only be a good thing,' Cole smiled. 'At least it means that you can come with me now.'

Elliott forced a smile. 'Uh, yeah… but-'

'So it's a deal then, yes? Of course I'll probably stand out like a sore thumb because I never attended that school, but I'm sure you can introduce me to the people that matter. I can imagine you were little Miss Popularity.'

'Not exactly…'

'Wonderful. Another date to mark up on the calendar.' He smiled at her as he lifted his wine glass. 'Seems like we're going to be seeing a lot of each other, doesn't it?'

Elliott half grimaced, a failure at an attempted smile, and picked up her own wine. Guzzling half of it, she cursed the Gods who had thrown Cole Oakley in her life.

* * *

Jimmy headed towards his car that was parked up against the curb near the boxing club. It would have been so much easier to park it outside of Shiny Bikes so he could avoid carrying this dumb box all the way along the front street, but he didn't feel like getting another ticket. His glove box was packed full of them right now, and he couldn't even explain how he had got them. He was pretty sure there was some kind of phantom traffic warden following him around, waiting for him to turn his back on his vehicle so they could leave a ticket under the wiper. He gotten a ticket last week when he had only been away from his car for thirty seconds.

Definitely someone with a grudge, he reckoned. But then again in this town there was always someone who held a grudge against you.

Jimmy set the heavy box down by boot of the car and raked in his pocket for his keys. Before bumping into Elliott he hadn't really been thinking about anything, and really that was the way he liked it. Not many people had a talent like Jimmy to clear their mind of all worries and dramas and just get on with the task in hand. It was probably one of the reasons why the garage was doing so well. Well he couldn't really give much credit to Johnny and Peanut; Johnny was constantly trying to cut corners to save time and Peanut couldn't even change do an oil change without someone looking over his shoulder.

Despite that, Jimmy wouldn't change them for the world.

But seeing Elliott with Cole Oakley had been a surprise. He wasn't upset or anything like that; he and Elliott were just friends now so there was no need for jealousy. Jimmy was actually happy she was out with someone; or at least he would be happy if it was someone other than Cole Oakley. He didn't like Cole Oakley, but then again no one liked Cole Oakley. He was a patronising, arrogant, egotistical asshole, who didn't think of anything other than money. Just like all the other Preppies, basically, but he was a little more hard headed in the business world. Plus there were unfavourable rumours about his private life. The one that stuck out the most was that he had put his second wife in hospital.

Jimmy wasn't sure on Elliott and Cole's relationship right now - he certainly couldn't imagine her dating him - but he figured it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on it. It would be hard to do thought. Elliott wasn't stupid; she would figure out something was up if he started checking up with her. But still, he would risk her getting suspicious than leaving her to getting involved with a scumbag like Cole Oakley.

Jimmy put the box in the boot, slamming it shut, and made his way around to the side of his car. Within seconds the Elliott situation was cleared from his mind and he was onto musing about the garage. He had an old Skoda blocking up one of the pits and they couldn't do anything with it until they got the parts next week. They needed to get some more garage spaces.

Jimmy became still suddenly, eyebrows drawn together and key in the lock of his car. Sensing a presence, he turned and looked over his shoulder. Immediately his frown deepened and he turned around, pulling his keys out of the lock.

Gary stood there, hands in his pockets and head slightly lowered. His eyes looked anxious though, glancing around and unwilling to settle on Jimmy. He looked like a kid just about to tell someone that he had kicked a ball through their window. He also looked rough and tired. But Jimmy didn't really care why he looked like that. He still hated Gary. He would probably always hate Gary. Since the accident with Reese the pair of them had managed to keep out of each others way, and Jimmy had wanted it to stay that way. Apparently Gary had other ideas.

'Um… you busy?' Gary asked, rubbing the back of his neck and then quickly tucking his hand away like the air would melt his skin or something.

'Not really,' Jimmy replied with a shrug. 'But I think I can probably think of something more important to be doing than standing here talking to you. Standing here and looking over there, for instance. That's probably more important.'

Gary chuckled. 'Still full of attitude, Jimmy-boy.'

'With you, yeah. Can you blame me?'

'Do you want to get this little sissy whine out of the way before I get to the point, Jim?' Gary asked, smirking. 'Because I'm pretty sure I have some tissues in my pocket somewhere…'

'What do you want, Gary?' Jimmy asked, exasperated.

Gary's smirk faded, replaced with that anxious look. After quite a long pause, he half shrugged. 'I need help with something.' he muttered.

Jimmy blinked, then laughed. 'What? You want help? From me?' He laughed again, the mere idea ludicrous. 'I'm not that dumb, Gary.'

Gary clenched his jaw. 'Look man, I don't want to fight with you. I get why you hate me, and yeah I hate you too. Probably more so, but you're the best person to come to about this kind of thing. I wouldn't have bothered coming to you if I wasn't desperate.'

'This kind of thing?' Jimmy echoed. 'And what kind of thing would that be?'

'Putting jerks in their place.' Gary replied. 'Knocking people down a peg or two.'

Jimmy looked at him for a long moment. Gary was a mess. He obviously hadn't been taking his meds, it didn't take a genius to figure that one out. Jimmy knew he had been doing okay for a while, so obviously something had riled him up enough to send him off the rails. And in all honesty, Jimmy would rather help get Gary back to being a relatively normal person than having that psychotic, paranoid side of him scurrying around the streets.

'Who do you have in mind?' Jimmy asked, folding his arms over his chest.

Gary's eyes brightened and a grin broke out on his face. Seeing that familiar grin almost made Jimmy shudder. His instincts told him to back off, but he was pulled in now. He wasn't surprised when a certain lawyer's name escaped Gary's lips.


	23. Belated Revenge

**A/N: Looonger chapter than the last few have been xD**

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**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**Belated Revenge**

The night was quite nice and calm, so by the time the three teens got to the hotel by the _Aquaberry_ store, Reese had cooled off a little. The ride had been just what he needed really; bike riding had always been the thing that calmed him down when he was riled up. Surprisingly, Taylor only made the ride even more relaxing. She remained silent, her weight giving the bike a nice feel and meaning that he had to work harder to pedal. Tommy was riding ahead, apparently unable to ride in a straight line. He weaved all over the path, almost like he was trying to run down every other person he passed. But then again he probably was; it _was_ Tommy.

'So, Reese,' Taylor piped up finally, sounding uncharacteristically serene. Although Reese couldn't help but imagine her with her tongue hanging out like a dog with its head out of a car window. 'How are you enjoying your new school?'

Reese clicked his tongue. 'About as much as I would enjoy having my toe nails pulled out, I guess.' he replied. 'Although it could be worse. I could be getting home tutored. Always found that creepy.'

'That's basically the opposite to what we're in now. If you were at home all day every day you'd end up in a Michael Myers kind of situation, I'll bet.' Taylor paused. 'At least I would be.'

'You wouldn't need that as an excuse.' Reese replied with a snort. 'That's probably the reason you're here. Who did you hack up then? Your babysitter?'

'Unfortunately not.' Taylor replied. 'I made a replica of her cat and nailed it to her door.'

Reese had nothing to say to that, so he just shrugged. Tommy was still quite far ahead, already weaving past the cinema. He was keeping his distance because of Taylor, that was obvious. The whole thing was quite confusing to Reese. Tommy wasn't one to refute female company, no matter who they were, but he seemed adamant to keep out of Taylor's grasp. He found her attractive, Reese knew that for a fact because he had mentioned it on a few occasions. It must just have been the role-reversal that put the bully off. Tommy liked to be the one making the lecherous advances because it made him feel masculine. When Taylor did it though… it probably left him feeling like a wimp.

But that just led on to the question what did Taylor see in Tommy?

'This whole Tommy thing,' Reese found himself asking as they bounced down the steps. 'What's with that?'

Taylor chuckled. 'Tommy Jackson. I've had my eye on that boy since kindergarden. Ever since he took one of my _My Little Pony's_ and flushed it down the toilet.'

Reese cocked an eyebrow. 'Seriously?'

'There's just something… weird about him. I like weird.'

'Could have fooled me.'

Taylor leaned forward, her arms going around Reese's neck and the side of her face resting on the top of his head. With her shifting her weight against him like that he lost his balance a little and nearly swerved into a trashcan. 'I like the idea of him being my bitch,' she giggled. 'He makes a point of degrading women so often, I like to degrade him. He pretends he doesn't like it, but it's obviously his kink.'

Reese tried to nudge her back with his shoulders, but it was hard to keep the bike going and push her back at the same time. She just seemed to press her chest more against him, her hands hanging down to his belly.

'I mean just watch when we get around this corner,' Taylor smirked. 'He'll be sitting there on his bike, ready to chirp away about putting something gross in this guy's car, but when he sees the way I'm hanging on you he'll look like someone's shit in his cornflakes.'

Reese frowned. 'You're trying to make him jealous?'

'Of course!' Taylor laughed. 'Why else do you think I'd hang on you like this, Reese? You're not my type. You're too headstrong. Tommy on the other hand has cognitive functions similar to a dizzy kitten.'

Reese shook his head as he turned the corner onto the seafront. 'That's not gonna work. Tommy's obviously freaked out big time by you. He'd probably happy to think that you weren't going to bother with him anymore.'

'For a guy you don't understand them much.' Taylor pointed out, flattening one hand against his abdomen.

Reese rolled his eyes. He felt nothing for Taylor's sudden touchy-feelyness apart from irritation. He wished he had just left her behind. 'You're such a freak.'

As Taylor had predicted, Tommy was sitting on his bike waiting for them. At first he was sitting with a dumb grin on his face, probably bursting to explain his plan to soil Cole's fancy car, but as soon as he saw the two of them emerging, his face dropped. His eyebrows drew together.

'What took you two so long?' he asked, accusingly.

Reese stopped beside him and jerked to get Taylor off, causing her to stumble back off the stunt pegs. She giggled as she moved away. 'Right, are they down here?' he asked, looking up and down the street.

Tommy remained sulky for a moment, frowning at the two of them, and then glanced around and pointed. 'There's his car,' he reported. 'They're either in the seafood place or the Mexican place. Either way if we sit on the boardwalk we'll be able to see them coming out.' He turned to Reese, shoulders slumping. 'Can't we just stick something a little bit gross in his car? It won't be ruining the date, just… grossing out Oakley.'

Reese shook his head. 'I just want to see what they're like together when they come out. It might just be a business thing.'

'So?' Tommy frowned. 'You're making no sense, dude. One minute you're going mad cos you think he's muscling in on your mom, then you want to cause all holy hell, then you're defending her cos your dad is sniffing around, and now you want to make sure she enjoyed herself! You're like Mr Schizo, dude!'

'Shut up, Tommy. You can clear off back to school if you want.' Reese began to pedal across the road towards the boardwalk, almost forgetting to check for traffic. 'You don't have to be here.'

'I can think of a million and one places that are more fun than hanging around here, Tommy.' Taylor winked.

Tommy grimaced and followed Reese. He only got halfway across the road before he heard his name being called out. All three of them stopped, looking around to see Blaine waving enthusiastically at them. Around him were the rest of the bullies; Joshua, Kingsly and Nigel. As always, Joshua and Kingsly were shoving at each other, smirking and chuckling like Beavis and Butthead clones, whilst Nigel wandered along with his hands in his pockets and staring despondently at the dark water.

'Hey, hey Tommy!' Blaine chirped, hurrying over and bouncing from foot to foot excitedly. 'Guess what? Guess how many kids I swirlied today!'

Tommy didn't look interested, but he shrugged anyway. 'How many?' he asked, probably merely to humour the hyper teenager.

'Well Edna's casserole set off the Nerds again, so a whole bunch of them came into my bathroom. I got to swirly all twelve of them at least five times. Man my arm went into cramp after about twenty minutes.' Blaine turned and waved at Nigel. 'Tell him, Nigel! It was frigging epic!'

Nigel just grunted, heading towards the boardwalk. Tommy followed him, rejoining Reese who had lain his bike down and was perched on the edge with his legs crossed and watching Cole's car across the street. The other Bullies automatically joined him, Nigel dropping onto his backside beside him.

'Where've you been anyway, Tommy?' Joshua asked with a frown, holding Kingsly tightly in a headlock. 'Seems like you haven't been doin' the rounds with us lately. Your kids are startin to think you've gone soft. I caught two of them actually _in_ the parking lot.'

'Yeah man,' Kingsly agreed, also frowning from beneath the larger bully's arm. 'It's like you've got no time for us anymore. You found someone more exciting to hang around with, huh? You casting us off, is that it?'

Tommy rolled his eye. 'Shut up, guys. I've just been distracted, that's all. And anyway, the fright on those kid's faces will be even more satisfying when I unload a truckload of shit down on them.'

'You got a plan, Tommy, huh?' Blaine grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet. 'Oh man it'll be awesome. You always have the best plans Tommy, I can't wait. You'll show those little loser twerps, won't you? Hell yeah you will.'

'Cool down, Blaine, before you mess yourself.' Nigel said, flatly.

'What are you doing here anyway?' Kingsly asked, shoving Joshua away. He glanced at Reese, then around at the third person they all knew was there but hadn't registered. He took a double take, then recoiled visibly from Taylor. 'What's _she_ doing here?'

Taylor grinned and folded her arms over her chest. She said nothing, just eyed each of them in turn. Reese glanced around at them also, baffled at how she had managed to render all five bullies into nervous wrecks with a glance.

'We're keeping an eye on Reese's mom.' Tommy explained. 'She's in one of those restaurants with Cole Oakley.'

'She's in the Mexican one.' Nigel said, picking his teeth.

Reese glanced at him curiously. 'How do you know?'

'Blonde hair? Red dress? We saw her go in earlier.' Nigel shrugged. 'Well I did. Blaine was burying himself down on the beach and those two were trying to finger each other without anyone noticing.'

'Fuck you, ginger pubes.' Joshua snarled, cheeks flushing.

'Yeah, douche bag,' Kingsly chimed in, squaring up beside Joshua. 'I'll finger your mouth with my dick if you don't shut the hell up.'

Nigel just rolled his eyes and shook his head, returning his attention to Reese. 'Yeah, they got out the car, the guy was on the phone and she stopped to talk to some other guy. Red hair. Short. Then the guy on the phone came back, chatted a while, and they went inside. Short guy went off. Been in there ever since.'

Reese blinked. 'Right. So they haven't come out or anything?'

'Nope.' Nigel replied. 'I was keeping an eye out for them.' He shrugged a little and bit down on his fingernail. 'She had nice legs.'

Tommy laughed loudly. 'I know, right?'

Reese shot them both disapproving frowns. 'Yeah, well thanks for that,' he muttered sarcastically. 'You don't have to hang around anymore, Tommy. Go off with your Droogs or something.'

Taylor sat down beside Reese and grinned up at Tommy. 'Yeah, I'll keep him company. You go off and do some manly things, Tommy.'

Tommy just grimaced distastefully, but there was a split second where he was practically glaring at Reese. 'Whatever. Means you'll be keeping your poison away from me, you crazy bint.' He waved to the others, laying Reese's bike down on the boardwalk. 'Come on, guys. I'm in the mood for some Nerd-Knocking.' He checked his watch. 'This is about the time they head back to school from the comic book store anyway.'

He turned and began to march away, probably trying to show off the fact that he had four pretty tough kids at his beck and call. Blaine was hot on his heels, grinning like a loon at the idea of beating down some Nerds. Joshua and Kingsly followed, quickly getting into another rough-housing session. Only Nigel stayed where he was, looking at something ahead of the departing bullies.

Too busy checking Reese and Taylor's reactions, Tommy slammed right into someone blocking his path. Not expecting the sudden halt, Blaine slammed into the back of him and too busy rough-housing, Joshua and Kingsly followed suit. Shoving Blaine and the others back angrily, Tommy snapped his head around to see who had gotten in his way.

'What the hell do you think you're-' He didn't get any further. Chuck Wiles' heavy thick hand planted itself in the middle of Tommy's face and shoved him back hard. The four bullies crashed into each other again, but managed to keep each other from collapsing in a heap.

Chuck Wiles cracked his knuckles noisily and looked around at the teens on the boardwalk with his blue eyes. Behind him stood three more equally burly Jocks, all of them grinning maliciously at the group before them. Reese recognised Todd Peterson, the tall dumb one who beat kids up if they confused him too much - which meant he was probably constantly beating people up. The other two Reese had come to know over the sports photos in the gym. The tall, monster-like one with curly dark hair beneath a red Bullworth cap was called Jesse Thorpe Junior. Rumour was that he wasn't really that bad of a guy, probably just another herd follower. The other one was Mike Hartley; slimmer than the others, but that was because he was on the swim team. He had short spiky blonde hair that seemed to taper down into a light brown colour. His eyes were blue and glassy, full of malice. His hands were already balled into fists by his sides.

'Well look at this,' Chuck grinned. 'I think we hit the jackpot, boys.'

'Oh Jesus,' Reese muttered, rubbing his forehead.

Tommy squared his shoulders at the larger boys. 'You want to watch it, you over developed freaks.'

'Screw off, loser,' Chuck grumbled, pushing him aside the second time. He approached Reese, jabbing a meaty finger at him. 'It's this turd we have the issue with. You think I was just going to leave you cos you got Darcy to suck up for you? You made an idiot out of me in front of the whole school, man. I'm not gonna let you off lightly.'

Reese stood up, sighing heavily. 'Look man, I'm really not in the mood. You want me to apologise? Then I'm sorry, but it's your own dumb fault for saying that about my mom.'

'I can say whatever the hell I want to about your mom, shitface,' Chuck growled, prodding Reese in his chest. 'If I wanted I could go round to your mom's house and ride her around the back garden like the show pony she is. I don't want an apology from you, I want to knock your dumb ass into the ground!'

Reese closed his eyes and breathed out heavily through his nose. He should have known that Darcy Harrington wouldn't be able to make the Jocks go away. He was actually surprised that she had kept to her end of the bargain. 'I'm not gonna fight you.'

'I don't want you to.' Chuck replied with a smirk. 'You just have to stand still.'

'Hey you son of a bitch!' Blaine almost squawked from behind, hopping from foot to foot. 'If you want to beat down on Reese then you've got us to deal with too!'

Chuck turned and laughed at him. 'Like you losers could do anyth--' He was abruptly silenced as Kingsly came hurtling towards him, head lowered like a miniture bull. He slammed into the larger Jock and a second later the pair of them were hurtling down over the side of the boardwalk onto the beach below.

'What the hell!?' Todd yelled, running to the edge and peering over. The other two Jocks stood dumbly, blinking in bewilderment. Reese turned and looked over the edge, also completely bewildered by what had just happened.

'Yeah!' Blaine hooted, punching the air and breaking the awkward silence.

Instantly, Mike Hartley turned on him. 'You faggots!' he cried, and sent a balled fist into Blaine's face. Blaine went flying backwards, pin wheeling his arms before landing on his back on the wood. Mike was on him in a second.

Moments later and all holy hell had broken loose. Nigel and Todd were scuffling on the edge of the boardwalk, dangerously close to following Chuck and Kinglsy over the side. Joshua had already hopped down and was helping Kingsly beat the crap out of Chuck - the pair of them hanging off him like a pair of angry dogs. Jesse Thorpe had turned on Tommy and had him by his hair, trying to knock him down to the floor but Tommy was managing to stand his ground. He must have been tougher than he looked.

Reese rubbed his forehead in annoyance. Trust this to happen. He looked up to see where Taylor had gone, but she was nowhere to be seen. Probably ran off, which was the sensible thing. Last thing Reese needed was to get into this brawl. No doubt his mother would walk out of that restaurant at any moment…

'_OW!' _Jesse yelled suddenly, releasing Tommy and whirling around in bewilderment. Taylor stood there, fresh from kicking him hard in his ass, and gestured for him to step forward.

'Visne saltare?' she practically yelled at him, eyes blazing. 'Viam Latam Fungosam!'

'What the hell?' Jesse cried, looking terrified. 'What the hell does that mean you crazy bitch?'

'Oh was I speaking Latin?' she replied, almost apologetically. 'I'm sorry. Sometimes it just slips out. What I said was, Do you want to dance? I know the Funky Broadway.'

Jesse just gaped at her. Whilst he was doing this, Tommy wrapped his arms around his head and pulled him downwards, bringing his knee into the Jock's face. As Jesse fell to the floor, Tommy let out a whoop and threw his arms up. Taylor was positively beaming at her. The whole sight was alien to Reese, as it actually looked like Tommy was about to hug her.

But before the impossible had a chance to happen, Reese felt himself suddenly being pulled to the right, his sweater vest making an audible ripping sound. He looked around just to see Chuck Wiles' bloody face inches away, teeth bared and eyes blazing. Reese risked a look over the boardwalk to see Joshua and Kingsly rolling in the sand and groaning.

'You want a war with me, kid?' Chuck raged, grip tightening on Reese's clothes. 'Well I swear to God you're going to wish you stayed buried in your momma's belly after I'm finished with you.'

Reese's eyes widened as Chuck's fist drew back. There was no way he was getting out of this one. But he had to look on the bright side; at least it had been a few days before he had gotten a beaten. Most kids didn't go a few minutes. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad anyway. After this he wouldn't have to worry about the Jocks again. At least not on this scale. They were dumb; they would probably forget about him in a week or so.

Chuck suddenly let out a yell and whirled around, releasing Reese and swinging a fist blindly. It collided with the face of whoever had caused him the apparent pain. Reese blinked, at first not registering what his eyes were seeing. Then he saw Taylor straighten up and glare at Chuck, blood running down her nose and over her snake-like grin.

'I like it rough,' she remarked, and winked.

A second later and Tommy sprung forward, punching Chuck hard in his face. 'You bastard!' he yelled, furious. 'You don't hit _girls_!'

Chuck stumbled over his own feet and landed on his ass, blinking in bewilderment. Before he could get back up, red lights flashed from the end of the boardwalk. They all looked around to see police officers scrambling out. That was probably because Taylor had been hit - it was like the cops of Bullworth had a sixth sense for that kind of thing.

'Move out!' Tommy yelled suddenly. Nigel looked up from his attack on one of the other Jocks and looked around. At the sight of the cops he grabbed Blaine and practically shoved him over the edge of the boardwalk. Nigel followed him easily, and a moment later the pair of them were dragging Kingsly and Joshua across the sand towards the school.

Not needing to be told, Reese hopped over himself, leaving the disorientated Jocks to get the blame for the brawl. Tommy and Taylor followed, Taylor landing hard in the sand. Tommy turned back, took her hand, and hauled her up.

'You fight like a girl, Jackson,' she grinned at him, blood covering her teeth.

For once, Tommy didn't grimace. 'You fight like a man.' He replied, and pulled her after the others, ignoring the angry shouts of the Jocks and the cops.

The bullies were laughing now, lifted from the experience. Only Reese was angry. This whole thing had just unleashed a whole new can of worms. Like he didn't have enough to worry about.


	24. Change Of Tune

**A/N: I haven't read over this chapter at all, so I'm SORRY if it reads crap xD I'm just really tired, and I wanted to get this chapter up and posted. Because I want to write more Reese lol xD

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**Chapter Twenty-Four**

**Change Of Tune**

Cole Oakley beeped his horn right before he tore away from the sidewalk and vanished down the street. Elliott waved after him a little longer than she needed to, but that probably had something to do with the full bottle of red wine that was sloshing around inside her belly. Although, she thought as she fumbled to close the front door behind her, it was a good job Cole Oakley was a gentlemen and declined her offer to come inside. Not that she would have instigated anything; she just didn't really need to ruin quite a good night by embarrassing herself.

Despite her initial dislike of Cole Oakley, she had thoroughly enjoyed herself. Once you got past Cole's smug, slightly arrogant persona it turned out that he was quite a funny guy. Nice too. Elliott had actually been able to sit and mock the Preppies of the Vale without offending him. In fact he had found it hilarious. He had gone on to tell her a very amusing story about a certain congressman's social gathering being crashed by feminists and transsexuals. Elliott had laughed too hard at that story, almost choking on her food (which had also been very nice).

Finally they had had to leave the restaurant, mainly because it was closing. Cole had gone into the kitchen to thank the chef, a thing that Elliott had found slightly bewildering so she had gone outside to attempt to sober up before she got in the car (last thing she needed was to puke all over his fancy car). Waiting for him she watched a bunch of monstrously huge Bullworth kids apparently trashing two bikes on the boardwalk. Bikes that looked a lot like Reese's, but she hadn't seen him taking his bike when he had left the house earlier, so she let it slip her mind.

So Cole had taken her home, walked her up the path to her door, kissed her cheek, and told her he wouldn't mind if she was a few minutes late for work the next day. Then he had headed off to his car and had tore away, leaving Elliott feeling quite happy and slightly giddy. But the giddy was due to the wine. Although she was starting to feel slightly less giddy than she had been before she had gotten into the car… so maybe a top up was in order.

She stumbled a few steps towards the kitchen before deciding that it was probably an idea to take off her shoes before she snapped her neck in them. So she tossed them aside, not immediately caring that they were her best and most expensive shoes, and scampered into the kitchen. She kind of wished Cole had stayed for one more drink, mainly because she was still wide awake and up for conversation. Her drinking buddy was usually Courtney, and Courtney could drink for hours. It was usually Elliott who gave up and went home first, so she wasn't used to being the one who was left awake and buzzy.

Instead of getting a cup of coffee and thinking about heading to bed, Elliott moved to the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of red wine that she had bought about a month ago and never got around to drinking. Mainly because she didn't like the idea of being one of these near-middle-aged women who sat alone drinking glasses of wine at night. But that didn't matter to her now, so she grabbed a wine glass and turned to head into the living room, where she would probably finish off at least half of the bottle before passing out and waking up late for work in the morning.

Sounded fair enough.

However, Elliott didn't get any further than three steps from the cupboard when she heard a noise from out back. She froze, eyebrow cocking lazily. Her jovial mind immediately conjured up a cute little possum, rolling around in the back garden and purring or doing whatever it is that possums do. She smiled happily at the thought and started to carry on towards the living room, when a recent memory slammed back into the front of her brain.

As if to back up the new suspicions, there was a rough, manly cough from outback, followed by clattering trashcans. Elliott groaned inwardly, thumping her wine bottle down heavily on the counter. Great. There was always something to screw up a perfectly good night. How the hell was she supposed to relax when that weirdo was back in her yard? Fair enough he had been harmless the last time around, but it didn't make it okay.

Elliott moved to the window and peered out into the back garden. Sure enough, nestled in her trash, was the shape of a man. She pressed her forehead against the glass and breathed out heavily, the window fogging up briefly. How the hell had he gotten in her yard anyway? She had made a point of chaining up the side gate after the first time around. The only way he could have gotten in was through the garage, but she hadn't unlocked the garage since she had moved in.

Maybe he'd never left? Wow, that was a scary thought. Either way she couldn't just leave him there. She certainly couldn't call Gary again, and that would be pointless anyway because he hadn't been able to shift him the first time around. She didn't particularly want to go through the hassle of calling the police to come and shift him, so with a heavy sigh she decided she only had one option. She turned and grabbed the broom that had been leaning against the refrigerator and headed for the back door.

Of course she never would have done this if she had been sober, but all drunk people - whether tipsy or fully intoxicated - thought that they could take on wild bears with nothing but a feather. So she struggled to unlock the door and stumbled out into the night air, holding the broom over her head like a demented witch. The figure in the trash didn't move, but that didn't mean anything. She slowly approached, holding out the handle like a javelin, and stopped about a meter away.

'Look, buddy,' she frowned. 'If you want to stay in my yard, in my well earned trash, you're going to have to cough up some green or something. Or at least take the trash out in the morning.'

The sleeping accountant didn't move, so she hesitated before jabbing him with the handle of the broom. The end buried itself in what appeared to be the small of the man's back, although it was hard to tell as in the dim light he kind of camouflaged with the trash bags. A low, garbled groan rose up from the pile, but no movement. Spurred on by the sound, Elliott jabbed him again.

'Hey, hey Princess!' she called again. 'Up you get!'

This time she jabbed him harder, the end of the broom digging into his ribs. Before she even knew what was happening the accountant released a loud, bear like bellow and twisted around, arm springing out like something from a zombie movie, and tightly grasped the broom handle. Elliott had the chance to look mildly alarmed before the man tugged hard on the broom, dragging her forward. Instead of releasing the broom she kept a hold on it, so she followed it right into the trash, colliding with one of the trashcans and causing it to clatter noisily on the ground. The man hurled the broom across the garden without even lifting his head, and a moment later he was snoring contentedly.

Elliott lay on her stomach, blonde hair over her eyes and something slimy beneath her left hand. She stayed there for a moment, blinking and dazed, before quickly scrambling to her feet. She stumbled backwards from the trash pile until her heels slammed into the bottom step that led up to her back door and gravity forced her to sit down hard on the top step.

Well that had been… an experience. She certainly hadn't been expecting that kind of reaction from the sleeping drunk, although really she couldn't have expected him just to get up and wander away. She glanced around the dark garden for her broom, but she couldn't see it. Great, she'd lost a broom as well as getting garbage juice all over her brand new swanky dress that her new boss had bought for her and was probably expecting her to wear to this damned reunion that she was attending with him at the weekend.

She glanced down at her dress and sighed heavily, before looking up and glaring angrily at the sleeping man. 'I hope you've got some cash on you, buddy, because you're paying for this to get dry cleaned.'

Not learning from the recent incident, Elliott shoved herself to her feet and stomped towards the trash pile, stopping beside it and planting her hands on her hips. 'If you're awake I suggest you get up. Cos if you don't I'm taking your wallet. I'm not kidding. And I'm going to call the police, then I'm going to tell everyone who you are and I bet your wife and family won't be pleased to find out that you've been spending every other night in my trash, huh?'

When the man didn't respond she just clicked her tongue and hunkered down. She had no intention of taking any of his money, but she wanted to know who he was. It didn't occur to her that he might just be faking sleep and waiting until she was close enough to grab. But fortunately for her, the man was genuinely out for the count. She patted down his jacket and soon found his wallet in the inside of his blazer.

'Alright then, trashman,' she muttered, flipping it open and raking for some kind of ID. She found a driver's licence and pulled it out. 'Let's see who you belong too…' Her eyes widened as they focused on the name beside the photograph. Convinced her eyes were playing tricks on her, she moved towards the back door so the could see better under the light from her kitchen.

The photograph of the man seemed normal enough. He was a little chubby, but smart with short brown hair and slightly yellowy-brown eyes. And beside his photograph was the name; Nate Oakley. Elliott gaped at it for a moment, before turning and looking at the snoozing man in her trash.

Correction; the snoozing Oakley in her trash.

'You've got to be kidding me.' she muttered, arms dropping by her sides. Well this was going to be a story for the office.


	25. Breaking Up

**A/N: Longer chapter than usual, but I'm sure no one will mind xD Again I haven't read over it, so apologises for any typos lol.

* * *

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**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**Breaking Up **

Two days had passed since the Jock fight on the boardwalk, and things certainly hadn't been any easier since then. Although Reese had lucky enough to gain a peak into the psyche of a Bully. They certainly lived with a 'fight now, worry later' attitude, and for Tommy at least, 'later' was approximately two days later.

Tommy and Blaine especially had been literally bouncing off the walls after the Jock fight, mainly because the two of them saw it as a victory. And a victory against the Jocks wasn't something to be taken lightly. Joshua and Kingsly didn't seem that bothered either way; it was just another fight to them. And Reese figured they didn't want to think about it because the pair of them did get their asses kicked pretty badly from Chuck Wiles. Nigel, once again showing that he was the only one that was moderately sane, pointed out that if the police hadn't turned up they probably would be fish food by now. But Tommy ignored him out of pride, and Blaine ignored him out of stupidity.

But that had been a mistake on Tommy's part. His refusal to accept that it had been a fluke that the fight had ended in their favour meant he hadn't been thinking about a revenge attack, and it was Blaine who suffered for it. Whilst pursuing a particularly wily Nerd, Blaine was led into Jock territory. Mike Hartley spotted him. There was no need to go into gory details, but Blaine was still laid up in the nurse's office a day later. So after that Tommy had accepted that perhaps he and his guys were in pretty deep and much to his despair, the Bullies were on stand down. Many Nerds rejoiced.

Before he had even gotten out of the boy's dorm that morning, Reese knew it wasn't going to be a great day. Mainly because as soon as he stepped out of his room he was greeted with the mangled remains of his best bike lying in the corridor. Beyond repair, definitely; he could see that with a quick glance. A gift from the Jocks judging by the illegible scrawl on a piece of paper taped to the handlebars. Great way to start a day.

Although he had one thing to thank those dumb Jocks for. In the scrap Chuck had managed to rip Reese's shirt and his sweater vest, and without a replacement he had to wear one of the yellow gym t-shirts and a hooded sweater until he got a new uniform. Of course he had more sweaters and shirts in his wardrobe, but he wasn't going to tell Miss Danvers that. It would be a relief to get out of those stupid sweater vests for a week or something. It made him feel relatively normal.

So after he had changed, Reese stood in the corridor and stared at his trashed pride and joy. He didn't want to be annoyed or upset - he didn't want to give the Jocks any satisfaction that this bothered him - but the fact was that it _did_ bother him. This bike meant a lot to him. It was full of memories, most of them with Jimmy, Johnny and Peanut in the garage. Working on it had helped him overcome a lot of things; mainly it had helped him control the mild ADD he had suffered from as a kid. Thankfully he had never needed medication, but he still believed it was the bike that was to thank for that.

'So that mangled contraption is yours?' A snorty, slightly phlegmy voice enquired from behind him. 'Because I don't mean to be rude, but it's a blatant fire hazard. Imagine if the fire alarm were to go off right _now_. Everyone would simply _burn_.'

Reese turned with one cocked eyebrow, unsurprised to see the speaker was wearing a green Astronomy Club sweater vest that was tucked into his tan coloured school slacks. His skinny thumbs were hooked in his belt loops, making him look like some really faggotty cowboy in Reese's opinion. His red hair was slicked flat with some unidentifiable substance that had to be organic and he somehow managed to have a cowlick curl right in the middle of his forehead. Reese turned fully onto the Nerd, eyeing his spotty face and thick wet lips that tried (and failed) to hide the metal braces beneath.

'You think I laid that there in the hope that the dorm would spontaneously combust and everyone would be too dumb to run around it to escape?' Reese asked, then paused and considered this. 'I _was_ just about to move it, but your plan sounds much better.'

The Nerd looked confused. His muddy brown eyes searched Reese's face for any sign of reason and then glanced down to the mangled bike. 'Well I suggest you clear it away,' he said self-importantly. 'As Dorm Manager it's my duty to make sure the place stays tidy and free of obstacles.'

Reese glanced around the corridor without moving his head. He saw graffiti, trash, rat droppings… 'Yeah, looks like you're doing a swell job. Who are you anyway?'

The Nerd squared his shoulders, but he still looked as tough as a wet feather. 'If you _must _know, I'm Carlton Nedry.'

Reese smirked. 'Nedry?'

Carlton narrowed his eyes. 'I don't need _you_ to point out that it's an anagram of Nerdy. I can work that out for myself, after all I do have the highest grade point average in this _state_.'

Reese searched his memory, knowing he had seen this Nerd before. Then he remembered his first day when Tommy had shown him around. He had seen the rest of the Bullies tormenting Carlton, and also remembered seeing Dante Romano giving him a hefty kick up the backside. He _also_ remembered Tommy saying that Carlton had the second highest grade point average.

'Is that so?' Reese teased, crossing his arms. 'It's just I heard that Taylor was the smartest kid in this school.'

Carlton nearly choked. 'That… _harpy_?' He snorted and laughed mockingly, glancing from side to side as if there were a crowd of people around him also laughing at the ludicrous statement. 'Taylor Ruxton is clinically _insane_.' He told Reese with a sneer. 'Her ability to pass examinations is not due to a natural intellect like my own, but because she has something seriously wrong with her brain. I can assure you that in a one on one display of our intelligence, I would prevail.'

Reese nodded, growing bored of the scrawny Nerd. 'Whatever helps you jack off at night.' he mumbled, turning around to the mangled bike and attempting to lift it onto its wheels. Immediately, the back tire dropped off. He muttered a curse and leant down to pick it up.

'I hope you're not going to fall in with those throwbacks, Reese,' Carlton said, circling around so he was standing on the other side of the bike. 'I can tell you're intelligent. I read up on your father, he was quite the character. Intelligent, albeit totally insane…'

Reese straightened up and frowned at him. 'Look, I don't want to stand and chat with you - _especially_ not about my family history. So beat it, bucky, before I remove your reason to have braces.'

Carlton blinked at the sudden hostility. 'There's no need to be so sharp, friend…' he mumbled, a little nervously.

'I'm gonna get rid of your stupid fire obstacle or whatever,' Reese shot at him. 'So there's no need for you to hover around anymore. Last thing I need is to be associated with you.'

Carlton blinked again, then tried to square his shoulders for the second time. 'I must say that I don't see any need for this brutal-'

Reese stamped a foot at him like one would do at a flock of irritating pigeons, and Carlton took off, arms flailing briefly. He raced out of the dorm doors without a second glance, the door flapping behind him. Reese frowned and shook his head. The kids of this school were certainly screwed up. Unfortunately for him that wasn't going to be his only reminder of that today.

* * *

Reese winced as he threw his mangled bike down onto a pile of scrap behind the old school bus. He couldn't help but think about his other bike; the one Tommy had been riding. Surely that one would have been trashed to hell too. Maybe they thought it was Tommy's and left it somewhere for him. Knowing Tommy he would still be pissed even if it wasn't his bike. He didn't like threats in any form.

Deciding that there was no point being miserable over something that couldn't be changed, Reese decided to go find Tommy. He hadn't seen him since yesterday lunchtime; before Blaine had gotten a similar fate to his bike, so no doubt he was off somewhere raging. Probably beating the crap out of some poor Nerd to try and make himself feel better.

So Reese turned from the trash pile with his hands in his pockets and his head down. And walked right into someone behind him.

'Hey hey there,' a gruff, annoyed voice barked as two rough hands grabbed Reese by his shoulders. 'What's with these dumb kids not watchin' where the heck they're goin, huh?'

Reese blinked and looked up. He couldn't ignore the heavy feeling of dread that balled in his stomach at the sight of Dante Romano looming over him, the smell of oil and stale cigarette smoke strong on his breath and skin. Reese was practically backed into a corner here, so if these Greasers decided they wanted to beat down on him he wouldn't have much of a chance for escape. He was certainly _not_ having a good day today.

'Sorry man,' Reese told him. He wasn't scared, just exasperated. All he wanted was five minute's peace. 'I just turned round too quick, that's all. I didn't mean to…'

'You lookin', at my sister you little punk?' Dante accused suddenly, taking Reese off guard. 'Because if you are I'm gonna get ready to pop out those little baby blues of yours.'

Reese lowered one eyebrow. His sister? He automatically glanced around at the surrounding Greasers. He saw Joey Rizzo, looking bored and uninterested with a cigarette perched on his bottom lip; the larger, grinning face of Jackie Esposito over Dante's shoulder; probably anticipating a fight. Then Reese spotted Lara standing a little behind TJ, as always looking at her finger nails.

Dante slapped Reese's cheek, bringing his attention back to the Greaser. 'Did you hear what I just said? Keep them to yourself you little perve.'

'Dude, I didn't even see her until you said-' Reese naively started. Immediately he regretted it. If he was so keen to avoid trouble, why did he keep tempting it?

An alarming look of anger flashed in Dante's eyes. 'You answering me back, punk? You want me to show you what-'

'Hey, hey,' Joey Rizzo interrupted, stepping forward and laying one hand on Dante's shoulder. Dante blinked and looked at him as if he was snapping out of a daze. 'Just chill out there, pal,' Joey said to his leader with a shrug. 'The kid's just a waste of time. If we want to hit the bike park without the Prefects catchin' us we better head off now.'

Dante eyed him for a moment, then straightened up. He smoothed down Reese's shoulders and straightened out the toggles that hung from his hood, then slapped him again on the cheek. He pointed at his eyes with V fingers. 'I'm watchin' you, kiddo.' he said, and then turned and headed away.

Blinking, Reese glanced to Joey. Joey eyed him, then gave him a subtle wink before following his leader. Looking disappointed, Jackie and TJ followed suit without complaint. Knowing it was stupid but unable to stop himself, Reese glanced to Lara.

Surprisingly, she wasn't looking at her nails. In fact she was looking right at Reese. He had always expected her to have eyes like her brother, but he was surprised to see blue eyes looking back at him. Her lips curled up into a slight half smile before she followed after her guys. Within seconds her attention was back on her fingernails.

Reese rubbed his forehead, realising that he had been holding his breath. Jesus, he was going to have to start keeping on his toes. If he wasn't more careful he really was going to end up with an ass kicking; and he would rather get one from the Jocks who had a _reason_ to beat on him, than from a random psychopath. Maybe he should find Tommy. At least with him he had less chance of getting a major beating.

* * *

He found Tommy pretty easily. He initially headed around to the library, but the place was deserted. Although there had been recent Nerd activity. The abandoned pile of text books and game of _Grottos and Gremlins_ suggested that they had moved pretty sharpish. Probably a Bully or Jock prowling by. So Reese had carried on walking and eventually his ears picked up the faint sound of someone begging for mercy.

He found Tommy around the side of the boy's dorm, the head of Earl Hardwicke tucked tightly underneath his left armpit. Reese knew about Tommy's ability to go for about four days without showering and figured that Earl probably wasn't having the best time of his life down there.

'P-please man!' Earl begged. 'I gave you my money! I don't have anything else!'

'Just shut the hell up and let me noogie the crap out of you,' Tommy snarled, rubbing his knuckles on the boy's head. 'I want to see some brains!'

Earl howled like a tortured puppy, legs and arms flailing uselessly behind him. From Reese's angle it looked like the were practicing to be a pantomime horse.

'Hey Tommy,' Reese called as he made his way over. 'I've been looking for you.'

Tommy's head snapped around, eyebrows drawn together so much they almost met in the middle. At the sight of Reese he released Earl, shoving him away far too hard. Earl slammed into the wall of the dorm and slumped on the floor, groaning quietly. '_You_!' he barked. 'You dumb shit! This is all your fault!'

Reese stopped and looked at Tommy in bewilderment. 'What's my fault?'

'All this shit!' Tommy bellowed, throwing his arms up. 'My guys are in ruins! You should see the state of Blaine! The kid's messed up! Nigel is even more miserable than usual! Joshua and Kingsly…' He paused. 'Well… they've just been hanging out in the dorm but… But the point is that this is your fault!' He jabbed Reese in his chest. 'You think we ever had any shit like this before you turned up? Hell no we didn't! We knew our place; we didn't screw with those monsters, now they're out there looking for us! We can't keep up with our schedules and beat on those nerdy kids! You think they're going to give us any respect if we can't beat on them consistently? Where the hell am I supposed to get my money from now Reese, huh? Tell me that!'

Reese chuckled and held his hands up to Tommy. 'Whoa there, dude. You're freaking out. Just calm down-'

'Damn right I'm freaking out!' Tommy yelled. 'I woke up with a mangled bike in my dorm room! My _door was locked_! That means those bastards can come in and kill me in my sleep! I don't want to die in my sleep, Reese! I want to die in a euphoric haze of drug cocktails surrounded by hookers! You think they're going to let me go out like that?'

Reese rolled his eyes. He was seriously contemplating going back to bed to avoid all of this crap. 'You're getting all wound up over nothing, Tommy. Those Jocks have brains like buckets with holes in the bottom. Give it a couple of days and they'll have forgotten everything. There's a game coming up, right? As soon as they start thinking about that they'll forget all about this, you'll see.'

'That's not the point,' Tommy growled. 'The point is that in a couple of days you've managed to screw up my whole group. I've got that twisted bitch Taylor on my back twenty four seven, I got Jocks threatening me, I got Nerds answering back…' He looked like he was going to continue the list but he stopped himself. He shook his head sharply and took a step back, waving his arms in front of him. 'That's it, Reese. We're over.'

Reese cocked an eyebrow. 'You're breaking up with me?' he smirked.

'Take me seriously, you asshole!' Tommy snapped. 'You're a goddamn liability. You just… attract bad shit, and I'm not having that shit storm raining down on me and mine. So from now on that's it. I'm not sticking up for you anymore, okay? I'm not gonna come running when you've got some dumb scheme. Got that? That's it. You're just another kid to me from now on. Just like…' He paused, then noticed Earl writhing on the floor. 'Just like that loser.'

Reese looked at Earl for a moment, then back to Tommy. 'C'mon man, stop being such a drama queen.'

Tommy just waved his hands and stalked away. 'I'm serious, Reese,' he called over his shoulder. 'We're over.'

Reese sighed and half laughed. 'Tommy, come _on_! Tommy!'

But Tommy was heading away, muttering irritably to himself. Herbert Douglas was unlucky enough to get in his way and was abruptly pushed down to the ground. Reese watched Tommy until he vanished, clicking his tongue irritable. Well that was just great.

'Uh… a little help…?' Earl groaned from the floor.

Reese glanced at him, frowning deeply. That was it. He had had enough of this crap. Without a word to the suffering boy on the ground, he turned and stalked away himself, hands pushed in his pockets.

* * *

Maybe he could get himself expelled. Do something crazy like burn down the gym. He knew it had already survived one burning, so maybe this time he could get the whole thing to come down. That would put those dumb Jocks in their place. Or maybe he could do something a lot simpler like give Crabblesnitch a good right hook. Nah, the guy was old. He wanted to get expelled, not go down for murder. Either way he had to get out of this hellhole. To start with he had enjoyed the hostility, but now it was boring him.

Reese had gone to the library in search of some peace and quiet, and had found it on the top floor. He sat backwards on a study chair, arms rested on the back and looked down over the balcony at the study area below. It was pretty empty considering most of the Nerds would be in class, but there were a few Preppies sauntering around. Pierce Vendome was perched on a desk, chattering away to two other Preps that Reese hadn't been introduced to yet, although he was sure one of them was a Spencer; as in Spencer Shipping. Earl Hardwicke had also arrived, probably in search of sanctuary. A few other kids wandered around, most of them Reese had never met. And had no intention of meeting in all honesty.

At least here he wouldn't be bothered by psychotic kids. Later he would go find Tommy and try and get him to calm down a see sense. He didn't really want his only friends deserting him when he had so many people after his blood. The Bullies had proven to be good company so far. Reese wasn't dumb; he knew he couldn't get anything done in this place without the support of them, even if he hated to admit that.

A little peace and quiet; was that too much to ask for?

'Hey. Hey you there. Turn around.'

Reese frowned at the female voice and glanced over his shoulder. He hadn't heard anyone approach, so he was surprised to discover someone directly behind him. Or rather, a large camera pointing in his face. He frowned and pushed it away with his hand.

'Hey!' he frowned. 'What the hell?'

The girl behind the camera frowned also. She blinked, one eye taking a little longer to respond than the other, and then cocked her head. She was small and thin, with skin that was almost grey it was so pale and dark rings under her eyes. Her short brown hair was ruffled and sticking out at the sides, giving her a pretty unstable look. And that was without her slightly glassy green eyes with pupils like pinpricks.

'Whoa, where did _you_ come from?' A creepy grin broke out over her face and she lifted the camera once again to get him in the shot. 'Look at your face! You could be the next Bruce Campbell!'

Reese frowned at her, eyeing this strange girl that had literally materialised from nowhere. She was only slight, dressed in a standard school shirt and a worn blue sweater vest, a dark green skirt, knee high white socks and black pumps on her feet. Normal enough, if you ignored the mass of scrapes and bruises on her legs and knees and the huge pink cast on her right arm. Hanging around her neck on a pink neon string was what looked like a Kermit the Frog Pez dispenser, a thing that Reese hadn't seen for years. By the looks of her she was probably keeping something illegal in that thing.

'Look, I have no idea what the hell it is you're doing, but I'm kinda busy here,' Reese told her, turning away from the camera. 'So go take your little psycho documentary elsewhere.'

The girl straightened up. 'How did you know what I was filming? Did you read my scripts?'

Reese looked at her in exasperation. 'What? No. Just beat it, will you?'

The girl didn't take the hint. Instead she got down on her knees and scooted around so she was beside him, pointing the camera up at his face. 'Oh hell yeah. My camera loves you. Hey, do me a favour,' She peered at him over the camera, eyes gleaming. 'Scream for me.'

Reese eyed her impassively. 'Scream for you.' He repeated, flatly.

The girl nodded and got ready with the camera, obviously expecting him to do so. Reese looked into the camera for a moment, and then simply turned away.

'Oh come on!' the girl whined. 'You're perfect leading man material! I can see you now hurling around a chainsaw or… or a meat hook or something. Brilliant. And the scar…' She moved the camera closer to his face.

'Oh for God's sake…' Reese moaned, pushing the camera away. 'Why won't you people leave me alone? Huh? For five minutes! Did someone spray Eau de Crazy on me or something? Your lot are like moths to a flame!'

The girl ignored him. 'I'm Sammy. Sammy Tarantino.' She thrust out one hand, then noticed it was the one with the cast and lowered it again. 'Okay, Tarrant really, but I'd love to be a Tarantino. That guy is a genius. _Genius_.' She screwed up her face a shuddered as she repeated the last word, making Reese recoil slightly.

'Good for him,' Reese said warily. He stood up and got ready to walk away, only to have Sammy thrust the camera in his face again.

'Come on. Just one scream. A little one.' She pleaded. 'I need this man, you have no idea how much I need it. If I don't get something put together soon they're going to have me filming really bad stuff. I'll be a laughing stock! One of those losers in the phone book who video people's weddings and all that crap. They already want me to film this dumb reunion on Saturday and I can't have that on my resume, I'll be a laughing stock! You think Cannes approves of that crap? Huh?'

Reese frowned at her. 'Wait, reunion? What reunion?'

'The one on Saturday,' Sammy replied with a twitch and a sniff. 'A bunch of old students are coming… I don't know. Class of 2006 or something. I dunno. I wasn't listening. I have no idea.' She pushed the camera in his face again. 'One scream. Come on. The camera loves you.'

Reese frowned thoughtfully. His mom and dad had been class of 2006. Why hadn't she mentioned it when he had seen her the other day? Either she wasn't going or she didn't want him to know she was going. The latter sounded more likely. He began to move past the strange girl with the camera, now not concerned with her.

'Hey, where you going?' Sammy called after him. 'You don't mind if I get some moving shots of you, do you? I need to work out your pace. Maybe you can move a bit edgier, huh? Maybe like there's something behind you…' She shuddered and giggled. 'Oh this is _awesome_! I'm going to make you _a star_ my friend!'

Ignoring her, Reese headed down the stairs. Sammy scampered after him, fumbling to hold the camera and pop a pep pill from the Pez dispenser into her mouth.


	26. Know Thyself

**A/N: Short chapter. I've decided to make Elliott's turn into Gary's turn to. So they'll be alternating POVs. Because there hasn't been enough Gary in this story. It's terrible xDD This is just a short chapter though. Basically setting up what's going to happen later :p I hope I've got Gary more in character than I've had him so far D8  


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**Chapter Twenty Six**

**Know Thyself**

How long had he been on this crap now? Thirteen, maybe fourteen years? He had had a couple of slip ups, one or two occasions where he hadn't been able to make it to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription, or he had simply forgotten to pop a pill one morning. He had never intentionally stopped taking them. Even about ten years ago when he had been suffering from excruciating kidney pains because of a new brand of meds from a new, young and pretty dumb doctor he had kept taking them. He didn't want to go back to being that irrational, psychotic mess that he had been school.

Or he thought he didn't. The meds made him think he didn't.

Gary was smarter than that though. With his mind unclouded by the various medications he could see a lot clearer. The meds made him think he was normal. Yeah, being a mindless, miserable drone was so much better, wasn't it? What exactly had he done in the last fifteen years? Drifted from shitty apartment to shitty job, never really doing anything worthwhile. Never doing anything meaningful. And hadn't that always been Gary's aim in life as a kid? To do something to be remembered for? To leave his mark somewhere?

At the age of thirty he had done nothing. He was a loser who lived in a crappy apartment who chucked crates around on a fishy smelling dock. He lay on his couch at night and watched terrible TV. He had routines. He vacuumed his house, cleaned his kitchen, went grocery shopping on weekends, sat alone with TV dinners and a four pack of cheap import beer every night.

If fifteen year old Gary Smith had seen this, he would have hung himself to prevent this ever happening.

Gary wasn't sure what had possessed him to stop taking his meds. After leaving Elliott's house a few days ago after that bastard Oakley had turned up on the doorstep, he had just been sickened at the thought of them. So he flushed them. The next morning he regretted it, instantly going to the pharmacy to get a refill, but apparently they had been out. So he had gone home and turned his place upside looking for a spare bottle. He had flushed every single one. As the hours ticked by withdrawal set in. Then he started getting twitchy.

Then he started thinking. Thinking. Constantly.

Fifteen years of repressed thoughts surged up in his mind, overwhelming him almost. He panicked for a while at first, but that soon went. After this medication induced façade slipped away he became more and more like his old self. Like his real self. He was Gary Smith again. And God had he missed being Gary Smith.

Confidence was one of Gary Smith's best features. He could say anything to anyone, do anything he wanted and not give a damn about how anyone responded or what they thought about it. Loser Gary almost reminded him of Femme-Boy, which was kind of humiliating. In fifteen years he hadn't even been able to tell Elliott what he wanted from her. Why he hadn't just strolled in there and dragged her up to the bedroom he didn't know. But now he had his confidence back he could do that. And that had been exactly what he had gone around to do two nights ago.

Only she hadn't been there. She had been out with Oakley. And instead of facing her he had come face to face with Reese. Things were said, but not regretted.

The plan had come to him almost instantly, as soon as he walked away from the house in fact. He didn't know what the plan was in aid of; to get Elliott away from that slime ball lawyer, or simply to get her back for being the way she had been with him, or just to knock Oakley down a peg or two - but it came so easily it was almost scary.

Bumping into Jimmy was just the icing on the cake. Made everything come together a lot easier for him, and Jimmy being the dumb shit he always had been meant that he would probably fall for everything without even considering that it might backfire and bite him in the ass. The moron probably thought Gary had changed.

Well he had changed. For a while.

Jimmy didn't need to know much about what was going to happen. He just had to be in the right place at the right time. Ideally in the Vale on Saturday night. On reunion night. It would be nice to have Elliott there too. That would be easy to arrange; that girl practically lived for drama. She would probably end up there even if Gary didn't lead her. It was like she just materialised into the middle of it, not even knowing how she got there herself.

Now it was just the wait for Saturday. One day away. Gary Smith was back on form, and he was going to make sure everyone knew it.


	27. Inital Plan

**A/N: Sorry for the immense gap in updates Dx I've been kind of getting carried away with my deviantart page lol xD But I'm going to get updating often again, I promise lol :P And I know I mentioned to some that there'd be a new lady introduced in this chapter, but I'm locking her away for now because I don't think there's any room for any more 'main' characters in this particular story. I'll just get confused lol xD  


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**Chapter Twenty Seven**

**Initial Plan**

Reese was quite surprised at how quickly he had become accustomed with having a camera pointing at his face. He barely even registered Sammy now as she hovered around him, muttering intelligible things as she filmed his thoughtful face. He had attempted to get rid of her, but she was like a stray dog in search of some scraps, sniffing around his ankles, ducking away when he turned on her but scampering back as soon as he turned his back again. Eventually he gave up. It wasn't as if she was being particularly annoying; not like the psychopaths back in there. Okay so she probably wasn't all that sane, but at least she wasn't trying to beat him up.

And also she had brought this reunion to his attention. At first he thought she might have been mistaken, mainly because he couldn't imagine Crabblesnitch being stupid enough to hold any kind of gathering on campus while school was in session, but Sammy seemed quite adamant about it. Which once again set Reese off wondering why his mother hadn't mentioned it when he had seen her. Maybe she wasn't going? Unlikely, he knew how she worked. She would probably want to show off that she lived in the Vale now. She could have just forgotten, after all he and Tommy had turned up pretty unrepentantly. Or maybe she had another reason?

Whatever that reason was it better not involve that bastard Oakley guy.

'Lift your chin for me a little,' Sammy asked, getting down on one knee and pointing the camera upwards at him. 'I'm checking for your best angles.'

Reese just frowned and leaned back on the wooden bench, stretching his arms across the back. He had come to the Town Hall, figuring he might get a little peace and quiet there. He had been right as there were certainly no Academy kids around. At least none in the immediate area, apart from himself and Sammy. He planned on using this rare moment to regain himself before he went to find Tommy and try and talk him out of his hissy fit. Then the pair of them could set about planning on how they were going to crash this reunion.

Even if Elliott wasn't going, he wasn't about to let an opportunity for chaos pass him by. And if Elliott was going, Tommy wouldn't pass up the opportunity to crash it either.

'Have you ever filmed before?' Sammy asked, interrupting his train of thought. 'Because it can be quite daunting at first but eventually it gets-'

'This reunion,' Reese sighed, cutting her off. 'It's definitely this Saturday?'

Sammy nodded with a grunt and lowered the camera, probably realising that she wasn't going to get anything out of him. 'Eight o'clock on the dot.' She nodded once, then followed it with a slight twitch. 'The campus will be on lockdown. Two Prefects are assigned to the boy's dorm to stop them from getting out, along with Mr Galloway who'll be setting up a cot in the common room to keep a closer eye on everyone. Girl's dorm will be the same as usual, with Mrs Peabody stalking around at all hours…' Sammy sniffed and shuddered, making Reese flinch a little. 'The other two Prefects will be by the gym, where the guests will be. If you ask me they could hold it somewhere better than the gym. Somewhere that doesn't stink of cheesy feet…'

Reese frowned thoughtfully. Sounded like it would be a military operation if anyone wanted to get near to the place. But… His eyes focused on Sammy again. She was sitting cross legged on the pavement before him, fiddling with her camera. 'You said something about filming it, yeah? So you'll be there?'

Sammy nodded. 'From eight until eight thirty. Then I'll be escorted back to the dorm. But I'm gonna get some damn good footage in that half an hour, let me tell you that.'

Reese regarded her for a moment before something clicked in his mind. He leaned forward and reached out for her camera, but before he could touch it she snatched it back, looking up at him with wild eyes. He took his hand back, figuring that if he didn't she would probably bite his fingers off, but tried to keep a friendly expression. 'I bet I could get you some good footage in there. Set up some stuff, get some good reactions.'

Sammy's eyes lit up. 'You could? Do you think you could get some screams?'

Reese resisted the initial urge to grimace and call her a weirdo and managed to keep smiling. 'Sure. Do you think Crabblesnitch will let me come with you? As an assistant or something?' He knew it was unlikely given his already shaky start here at Bullworth, but it was worth a shot.

Sammy shook her head. 'I don't have assistants. They sometimes hinder the creative process with their… critique.' The last word dripped with venom.

'Well I wouldn't really be your assistant, would I? I'd be like…' He paused, searching for the right word. Sammy watched him expectantly, and a little sceptically. 'Like an apprentice.'

One of Sammy's bloodshot eyes narrowed at him. 'Apprentice?' she enquired curiously.

Reese just shrugged and nodded. 'I guess.'

She sat and contemplated it for a long moment, tapping her chin thoughtfully. 'Okay.' she chirped finally, making him flinch yet again. 'I'll go talk to Dr Crabblesnitch and see what he says. It'll be awesome because I'd be able to get you in some action shots too!' She scrambled to her feet, taking on a new sense of jittery excitement. 'I swear to you, sir, you're going to be so big after this. Your face will be plastered on billboards all over the country.' She waved her hands before and her eyes unfocused, like she could really see it. Reese had to glance to the billboard she was staring at, half expecting to see his face.

'Uh… yeah,' he half frowned, eyeing her uncertainly. 'Well you run along and talk with Crabblesnitch and we'll meet up later and talk about your… uh…' He wiggled his fingers at her camera. 'Project.'

Sammy grabbed his wiggling fingers and shook his hand rapidly. 'I'm so glad I met you today, Reese. Seriously. You have no idea what it means to me. I could kiss you.'

Reese pulled his hand back, grimacing. 'Yeah… well try not to.'

Sammy reached for her Pez dispenser without taking her eyes off him and popped something small and white from it into her mouth.

'What is that?' Reese asked. 'Cos that didn't look like candy.'

'Pep pills.' Sammy replied simply. 'I don't have time for sleep. Too much editing.' With that she turned and headed off down the street, her left leg bouncing her a little every time she stepped on it. Reese watched her go with one eyebrow raised, then leaned back and sighed heavily.

Immediately, he jumped and let out a sharp cry.

'Well that's not very pleasant.' Taylor remarked from the spot where she had apparently materialised beside him on the bench.

Reese closed his eyes to try and calm his suddenly pounding heart. 'How the hell did you get there?' he asked irritably, annoyed at how much she had alarmed him.

Taylor shrugged. 'I crept.' she replied. 'Saw you sitting talking to the Scream Queen and thought I'd give you something to scream about.' She smirked and leaned close to him, narrowing her grey eyes. 'Worked, didn't it?'

Reese pushed her back. 'You don't have to creep up on me to give me a shock, Taylor. I can get that just from looking at your crazy ass face.' He stood up and put his hands in his pockets glancing around the street to see if there was anyone else ready to creep up on him. 'Is there something you want?'

'Where's Tommy?' Taylor asked, glancing around and even peering under the bench. 'I thought you two were attached at the hip?'

Reese rolled his eyes at sat back down, this time with a nice gap between the two of them. 'Apparently he's broken up with me,' he replied, rubbing his eye with his finger. 'I cause him too much bother, so he's decided I'm not worth hanging around with anymore. No idea what his problem is - Ow!'

His finger jabbed into his eye as Taylor punched him in the shoulder. The surprise of both injuries left him confused for a moment, before he covered his watering eye with one hand and held the sore part of his shoulder with the other. He turned and looked at the girl in surprise with his one eye.

'What the hell?' he cried. 'You nearly poked my eye out!'

'You jerk!' Taylor hissed, eyebrows drawn close together. 'Do you have any idea what that means?'

Reese just looked at her in confusion, hunched away from her in case she launched another attack. If she had been a guy he would have smacked her silly, but he didn't hit girls. No matter how batshit they were.

'If you're not hanging around with Tommy then I don't have any means of getting close to him,' she scowled. 'You think those bullet-headed psychos are going to let me get through to him? No way! I only get good time with him when you're around because you're too busy stroking your ego to convince him that I'm a complete whack job.'

Reese blinked, wincing at the sting in his eye. 'He doesn't need anyone to convince him that you're a whack job.'

Taylor's top lip curled back a little. 'Watch your mouth, pretty-boy, or I'll smack it off your face.'

He couldn't think of any way to react to her. He remembered Tommy telling him not to get on her bad side on his first day, but he hadn't thought anything of it. He had just regarded Taylor as a harmless nut job. But apparently she was more than that. Reese was ready to fight her off if she attacked him.

But as quickly as she had turned, she relaxed. She sat back, crossed her legs, and examined her fingernails. 'I'm sure he'll come running back to you sooner or later anyway,' she sighed. 'After all he's got the hots for your mom. You're his ticket to get front row seats to his sick little MILF fantasies.'

Reese reluctantly relaxed, sitting back and rubbing his stinging eye. The pain in his shoulder had gone, but it had left him irritated. 'Like I'm going to let him anywhere near my mom.' he muttered.

Taylor sighed and turned to look at him, allowing her arms to drop limply by her sides. 'So what were you talking to Sammy Tarantino about, huh? Zombie porn? Combine your two favourite things, eh Reese?' She nudged him with her elbow, grinning lecherously.

Reese frowned. 'She was telling me about the reunion on Saturday,' he replied. 'Apparently she's filming it. She's going to get me in.'

Taylor's face lit up like the sun. 'This Saturday? I thought it was next week! Oh for serious?' She began bouncing up and down in her seat, grinning happily. Reese watched her, figuring that if Tommy had been there he probably would have had to go sit down in the corner.

'Well that's what Sammy said.' Reese shrugged.

Taylor turned on him, practically throwing herself across the bench and grabbing him by his collar. 'We've got to go get Tommy. This is Tommy's calling, I'm telling you. He will shine at this.'

Reese pried her off. 'Who's to say he'll even want to get involved?'

Taylor just laughed and hopped to her feet grabbing his hand. 'You don't know Tommy like I do. You learn a lot about a guy from watching them.' Without elaborating, she pulled him to his feet. 'Come on, Reesey-baby!'

Reese allowed himself to be dragged along the pavement. Well with Taylor's reinforcement he could probably get Tommy back on his side, and in all honesty he would probably need him for what he was planning on Saturday. Taylor too, come to think of it. With a sigh he figured it was probably best if he just let things flow. Stopping to take time out obviously wasn't a choice, so keeping at a fast pace might stop himself from going completely insane.

At least while Taylor was around things probably wouldn't be slowing down.


	28. Forced Advances

**A/N: Well this was a right carry on to upload. I'm using a different internet connection, and this one has CHILD LOCK! Which means if it's in a pissy mood then is unsuitable for tiddler's eyes. DOESN'T MATTER THAT I'M OLD ENOUGH TO LOOK AT WHATEVER THE HECK I LIKES D Anyway, I beat the system and got here xD Bit of an angsty rawr chapter for you all lul.

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**Chapter Twenty Eight**

**Forced Advances**

Elliott now understood why she avoided wine on work nights. Not that she didn't know already, just last night she had forgotten. But she was reminded quite rudely with a splitting migraine and a clock that seemed to be going five times faster than it usually did. Her alarm had gone off the same time as it did every morning; seven am, but by the time she had managed to drag herself out of the soft warmth of her bed it had somehow jumped to seven thirty five. Meaning she had about an hour to shower, treat her sensitive bloodshot eyes, replace her blood with caffeine and get to the office.

The thought of that computer screen and the incessant phone ringing did little to help her move faster.

Somehow though she managed to be standing in her hallway in her work clothes and holding a jet black coffee at eight twenty. Although she didn't feel any better. Her head felt like it had been held in a vice, then boiling treacle poured into her ear. Every light made her eyes sting and the hot coffee made her stomach churn. Her skin felt hot and tingly, her feet were still a little unsteady and she was quite sure she was still a little drunk. Ten minutes to get to work, and she was pretty sure she was in no fit state to drive. And it wasn't even like she could make up an excuse to get out of going to work, considering her drinking partner had been her boss.

Perhaps she shouldn't have had that extra few glasses of wine before she had gone to bed.

The walk would kill her, she knew that, so her only option would be to either call a cab or bum a lift off someone. Her empty purse made sure that she only had one choice. There was only one person who would understand how she was feeling that morning, but there was a high chance that that person would be in the exact same state as her.

Despite this fact, she grabbed her phone and called Courtney. Hopefully she wouldn't have left the house yet.

'You've reached Courtney Meadows…'

Elliott muttered a curse and went to hang up, only to be stopped by the sound of laughter down the other end.

'Sorry, Elle, couldn't resist. This is early for you to be calling. What's so important that it can't wait half an hour?' Courtney sounded unbearably chipper to Elliott, which just proved how bad she felt. Courtney was certainly not a chipper person.

'Have you set off to work yet, Courtney?' she asked, noticing for the first time how throaty her voice was. There was no way she was going to last until five on the phones. 'I think I need a ride.'

'A ride?' Courtney laughed. 'What's wrong with your own car?'

Elliott headed into the kitchen, dumping her coffee mug and half its contents into the sink. 'I'll crash.' she replied. 'There's no way I'd be able to keep in my lane. And if I walk I think I might not make it. Do you think you can swing by?'

'No can do, cherry pie,' Courtney replied. 'I'm hiking also. Car's in the garage. There's not actually anything wrong with it, I just needed my dose of sweaty leather clad men.'

Elliott groaned and leaned her forehead on the bench. The new position actually felt quite good, but she doubted she could spend the day with her head on the desk. 'Oh you suck so bad,' she moaned. 'How am I supposed to get to work? I'm dying.'

'Ah, so you went on your little business dinner, did you? Late night, huh?'

'Not the kind of late night you're implying. If I had gone to bed as soon as I walked through the door I would have been fine. But months of drinking with a pro like you left me hankering for one more glass. One more turned into three more. I'm sure you've been there.'

'Of course I have,' Courtney chuckled. 'Although I've trained myself to recover on three hours rest. Stop being such a wimp, Elle, and get walking. The fresh air will make you feel better, I promise. I'll even wait for you by the fire station with a coffee and something nice and greasy for your breakfast, that's how nice I am.'

Elliott grimaced at the thought of food. 'Thanks but no thanks. I might puke.' She moved to the back door to check it was locked, then suddenly remembered one of the reasons why she had gone to bed so late. Her steaming hangover had almost made her forget. 'Oh but you'll never guess what I discovered in my trash last night.'

'Oh you weren't so drunk you were raking for old takeaways in the trash, were you Elle? That's not very classy.'

'No, you remember I told you about that guy asleep in my trash?' She moved to the window and peered out, checking that the resident had cleared off - which he had.

'Trashcan Man,' Courtney replied. 'Yup. You should have invited him in for coffee or something. Might have loosened you up a bit.'

Elliott rolled her eyes and ignored the comment. 'Well I tried to chase him off, but the guy was pretty adamant he wasn't going anywhere, so I thought I'd get his name and report him, so I got his driver's licence and you'll never guess who it was.'

'Elvis.' Courtney replied.

'Nate Oakley.'

There was silence on the other end for a moment. 'Come again?'

'Nate Oakley. Sound familiar?'

'Hell yes it sounds familiar! I heard that guy was supposed to be in the city running a new strip mall. At least that's what the Oakley clan always said about him. He was in the lawyer business before he suddenly vanished and little brother Cole took over all his clients.' Courtney paused. 'And it was him in your trash, you say? Are you sure? Was it not just some tramp with his wallet?'

Elliott shook her head, despite the fact Courtney wouldn't see it. She moved into the hall and gathered her belongings, almost falling as she pulled on one heeled shoe. 'It was definitely him. So he's definitely one of the Oakleys?'

'Yeah,' Courtney replied, sounding miffed. 'Well that sounds weird. Why would they say he was off in the city if he's in Bullworth? And what the hell is an Oakley doing sleeping in the trash? Sounds like some shamed cover up going on.'

'Maybe he was cast out of the family for refusing to marry his cousin or something,' Elliott replied, her thoughts now back on the inevitable walk to work. Maybe she could get away with taking the car. She didn't feel that bad.

'Ha!' Courtney brayed a burst of laughter, making Elliott cringe. 'Sounds likely. Wow. Well that's some pretty dishy dirt we've got now.'

'Good point actually,' Elliott replied, moving to the door. 'I'd like to see Cole try and force me into another business dinner when I'm armed with this little tidbit. Well I better get walking…' She pulled open the door, only to have her path blocked by someone standing there. She blinked at him for a moment. 'I'll call you back, Courtney.'

She hung up, ignoring Courtney's curious questions, and felt her eyebrows knitting together. Gary looked back at her, saying nothing.

'I'm late for work,' she said, and tried to move past him.

If she hadn't been feeling so groggy and spaced out, she wouldn't have allowed him to put his hand on her shoulder and walk her backwards into the house. 'This won't take a minute,' he said, closing the door behind him.

Elliott felt a brief pang of nerves. He didn't look all that good. He was pale and he hadn't shaved. Alarm bells started ringing, but he was between her and the door, and if he didn't want her to leave until he had said his bit she knew she wouldn't be going anywhere. She was not in the mood for this today.

'I need to get to work,' she said again, trying to sound firmer but failing. 'I have to walk and if I was to get there on time I have to leave right now-'

'Just shut up a minute, will you?' Gary snapped, half rolling his eyes. 'For five minutes just try not to bitch or gripe, okay?'

Elliott blinked at him. She noted the way the corner of his mouth curled up briefly and knew right then that he had stopped taking his meds. She had no idea how they worked, but she was pretty sure stopping them after taking them for about fifteen years probably wouldn't be a good thing. 'I think this should wait for later…' she began nervously, trying to pass him.

He stepped in her path though. 'I should have come around earlier, really.' He paused. 'In matter of fact I did, but you were out. Reese was here though… bad choice in uniform. He doesn't suit light blue. Getting a bit of an attitude too, but I guess that hellhole has that effect on everyone.'

Elliott glanced to the door again. Maybe if she dived for it… No wait, why the hell was she so panicked? She wasn't in the right frame of mind this morning. Fair enough Gary was being creepy as hell, but it wasn't like he would do anything to her. Even at school when he had been at his craziest he hadn't raised a hand to anyone - apart from Jimmy, but that was a different story.

But still, she couldn't shake the nerves.

'I can call around your place on my dinner break,' she suggested, despite having no intention of doing so if it got rid of him. 'And I'll have a bit more time. But I really have to go-'

'First off I guess I should apologise for being such a jerk on the phone,' he said, disregarding her completely. He didn't look very apologetic. 'I guess I was just a little riled up. Probably because of that stuck up bastard turning up here like he was checking up on your or something. Didn't sleep much that night actually. I regretted saying that, if I'm honest, even if it was true I probably could have put it better. So that's why I came around, to apologise properly. But then I found out that you'd gone out with him. Fair enough, he's your boss I guess. Probably happen sooner or later. But I couldn't shake off the feeling that you only went out with him to get at me.'

Elliott suddenly felt very claustrophobic. Gary had that effect when he was getting intense, and he was certainly getting that way. 'I don't have time for this,' she muttered. 'I want you to get out so I can go to work, please.'

Gary chuckled. 'Just say it, go on. You went out with him to piss off me. Because I can't see any other reason why you would. He's a stuck up bastard. Same as the rest of them, really. It's funny, if that's the case. We can laugh about it. You wanted to make me jealous and it worked. I think you've pretty much got me figured out, and I've whittled you down to two possibilities.' He moved closer, practically looming over her. She felt him tug gently on the front of her jacket and she took a step back. He kept hold though, moving with her. 'You're either just waiting for me to make the first move, or you just plain and simple like the attention?' He grabbed her waist with both hands and pulled her forward. 'Either way you've got the attention.'

Elliott tried to push him off, ignoring her bag that fell to the floor. 'Get off me, Gary,' she told him, her voice unsteady. 'I know you haven't been taking your meds, okay? So I know you're not yourself. Just go home and… or go to the doctors and get a new prescription…' She felt her heart pounding as his hands ran around her back and he lowered his head to her neck. She had her arms between their bodies, trying to pry him off, but her muscles were weak. 'Seriously, Gary, get off. This isn't funny.'

'I'm not laughing,' he told her, breath tickling her neck.

She tried to shove him away harder, but only managed to lose her balance. He used her moment of unsteadiness to his advantage and pushed her back. She slammed into the coffee table, hurting her hip and knocking it over. She hit the wall, the breath rushing out of her. Panic engulfed her. Surely he wasn't going to do this. She couldn't even believe it was happening. Then she felt his hot lips on her neck and realised it was happening, and she was downright terrified. She thought she knew his dark side, but she had no idea it was like this.

'Gary please!' she begged, pushing against him with everything she had, but it wasn't enough. A sob escaped her as his hand forced itself up her shirt. 'Get off! Gary get the hell off! I didn't want it like this!'

He went rigid suddenly and moved back, looking at her with a strange expression. Elliott winced, expecting the worst. She cowered against the wall, not knowing what was going to happen. She couldn't place his expression. He blinked, and then pulled his hands back from her like she was on fire. The sudden movement made her cry out, and that sound made him jerk. It looked like he had just walked in on himself, and he was downright disgusted with what he had seen.

He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Instead he turned and quickly moved to the door, stumbling over Elliott's spilled bag. Without looking back he left, pulling the door shut behind him.

Elliott remained against the wall, hair and clothes dishevelled and breath coming harshly out of her mouth. Staring at the door she slid down until she was sitting, and closed her eyes tightly.


	29. Update

**HAI THAR!**

Been a damn long time since I've poked my nose in these waters. Main problem has been zero inspiration but I decided I reeeally need to get this story finished. Thing is I don't want to do it half arsed because you lovely readers have been very patient and very frigging nice to me :D I want to finish it properly, and I'm going to get my ass in gear and get that done. This is just to let you know that I haven't forgotten about this, and I'll be getting right back on it as soon as I've read through it all again and reminded myself what the heck is going on :p

UBER thanks for your patience people, and major apologies for being so unreliable with my stories :(


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